Behind 19 points and 14 rebounds from Nikola Vucevic, the USC Trojans defeated the Stanford Cardinal 69-53 at Maples Pavilion on Saturday night. In doing so, the Trojans accomplished a series of firsts. The win gave USC their first weekend sweep of the season, and their first sweep in the Bay Area since 1992. In addition, the victory by the Trojans moved them to 7-7 in conference play, which is tied for fourth place in the Pac-10.
In their 65-42 win over Stanford at Galen Center on January 20, USC held the Cardinal to just 22.2% shooting. Stanford didn't shoot that poorly tonight, but they did shoot just 33.9% percent. Stanford is the 12th USC opponent to shoot under 40% this season, and the Trojans are 11-1 in those games. Tonight was USC's first win at Maples Pavilion since 2003.
The double-double for Vucevic was his 16th of the season, the most of any player in the Pac-10. Nine of those double-doubles for Vucevic have come in conference play. Vucevic also hit three shots from three-point range tonight, as did Donte Smith, who finished with 13 points for the Trojans. Alex Stephenson added 15 for USC.
Josh Owens led Stanford with 13 points. At 3-4 on the road in Pac-10 play, the Trojans already have more road wins in conference this season than they have had in either of the last two seasons. USC returns home to host the Arizona schools next weekend, beginning with a Thursday night matchup with the conference-leading Arizona Wildcats.
For more information on tonight's game, be sure to read Conquest Chronicles.