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LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Southern California coach Henry Bibby wishes he could bottle his team's first-half performance against Stanford for the remainder of the Pac-10 Conference and NCAA tournaments. Taking advantage of a partisan crowd at the Staples Center, the 20th-ranked Trojans put on a clinic in the first half with a season-high 52 points and coasted to a 103-78 victory over No. 18 Stanford. USC (21-8) completed a three-game season sweep of the Cardinal and will face top-seeded Oregon in Friday's semifinals. Oregon defeated Washington in Thursday's first game. Sam Clancy, the Pac-10 Player of the Year, scored 25 points and Brandon Granville added 20 and handed out 11 assists for the Trojans. David Bluthenthal added 17 points for USC, making 4-of-6 3-pointers. The Trojaans also got production off the bench as Desmon Farmer scored 19 and Jerry Dupree added 10. "The first half we played good," Clancy said. "I think it's probably the best we've played offensively all year. Our guys came off the bench and got involved in the offense right away." The home court of the NBA's Clippers and Lakers, the Staples Center technically is a neutral site for the Pac-10 tournament. But with the USC campus a short drive away, Thursday's game felt like a home contest for the Trojans, and they gave their fans plenty to cheer about. USC scored at will from inside and outside over the first 20 minutes, shooting 67 percent (22-of-33) from the field. The Trojans made 7-of-11 3-pointers. "I thought coming into the tournament USC and Oregon were the two best teams," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "We'll get to see a great matchup tomorrow." USC missed four of its first five shots and actually trailed, 12-9, before catching fire and making 11 of its next 13 shots. Dupree's 3-pointer capped a 28-7 spurt that gave the Trojans a 37-19 lead with 5:30 left. The Trojans hope they are peaking at the right time. Last season, they got in the NCAA Tournament and reached the final eight before falling to eventual national champion Duke. "The stakes get much higher when you get to tournament time," Granville said. "It's a one-game elimination. We're trying to win a Pac-10 tournament since we didn't win the regular season championship." Southern Cal continued to pour it on, stretching the advantage to 48-25 on Bluthenthal's 3-pointer with three minutes remaining. USC led, 52-35, at intermission and by as many as 32 points in the second half. "The last two games, you realize it's coming to an end and you want to try and draw it out as far as you can," Granville said. "Coach told me to have fun, it's my last year and let everything take care of itself." Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt each had 17 points for the Cardinal (19-9), whose 51-31 rebounding edge was neutralized by USC's hot shooting. "I thought we were pretty enthusiastic about getting ready to play this game but that kind of curbed when we went down 20 points," Borchardt said. "They just flat out kicked our butts. They were just flat out better." The Trojans cooled off a bit early in the second half, giving Stanford a chance to get back into the game. The Cardinal had a fighting chance after Rob Little's follow shot made it 65-51 with 12:01 left. But Stanford kept fouling, sending USC to the line seven times over the next two minutes. The Trojans made 10-of-13 free throws during the stretch and put away the contest with a 13-0 burst. Bluthenthal capped the spurt with a 3-pointer that made it 78-51 with 10:01 remaining. USC opened its biggest lead, 98-66, on Granville's two foul shots with 3:46 remaining. The Trojans hit the century mark on Derrick Craven's pair from the line with 2:21 to go. USC finished at 55 percent (33-of-60) while holding Stanford to just 38 percent (29-of-76). |
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