On Thursday night, Stanford men’s basketball defeated #15 USC 64-61 on the road at the Galen Center. Stanford completes a regular season sweep of the Trojans with this win. Stanford senior forward Jaiden Delaire was the top scorer for the Cardinal with 14 points and 4 rebounds while freshman forward Harrison Ingram (12 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists) and junior forward Spencer Jones (10 points & 5 rebounds) also finished in double figures.

Senior guard Drew Peterson (14 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists) was the top scorer for the Trojans while junior forward Isaiah Mobley (9 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists) had a near triple-double. Junior guard Boogie Ellis (11 points) was the other Trojan to score in double figures. Stanford improves to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12 while USC falls to 17-3 overall and 7-3 in the Pac-12.

Stanford got out to a strong 14-5 lead with 15:00 to go in the first half. As good of a start as they could ask for. Delaire was on fire early with 8 points on 2-2 shooting from 3-point range. Stanford as a team was shooting 4-4 from 3-point range, in a nice offensive groove.

With 11:56 to go in the half, Stanford continued to lead up 18-12. Stanford was shooting 6-8 from the field while USC was shooting 4-7. Ingram was up to 5 points for Stanford with a triple and a pair of foul shots after getting fouled attempting a dunk.

Stanford would lead 25-17 with 7:46 to go in the half. Isa Silva was coming on strong for Stanford with 5 points while Jaiden Delaire’s 8 points still led the way. Stanford had a 9-3 rebounding edge, doing a great job on the boards.

With 5:04 to go in the half, Stanford led 26-24 as Boogie Ellis was getting USC back in the game with 8 points. Stanford needed to stop the bleeding and regain control. Rather than stopping the bleeding, Stanford gave up the lead as USC led 29-26 with 2:42 to go until halftime. The Trojans were on a 12-1 run over the last 4:45. It was really important for Stanford to finish the half strong after getting out to such a strong start.

At halftime, USC led 34-28 as Ellis (11 points) was leading the charge. Delaire (10 points & 4 rebounds) was leading Stanford. USC closed the half on a 15-2 run, doing a great job of coming back. As for Stanford, they started to stagnate on offense, squandering the lead that they once enjoyed.

Rather than moping around to start the second half, Stanford came out with a lot of energy and was rewarded with a 6-0 run to tie the game up at 34 apiece. USC would soon respond to lead 42-37 with 15:18 to go. Peterson was up to 9 points for USC while Delaire was up to 14 points for Stanford. This game was a battle.

With 11:13 to go, USC led 49-47. Stanford was hanging around, shooting 8-14 (57.1%) from deep. USC was shooting 7-16 (43.8%) from deep. It was a 21-19 rebounding edge for USC.

The game continued to be intense as USC held a three point lead (55-52) with 7:39 to go. Michael O’Connell and Harrison Ingram each had 8 points for Stanford. USC had a 23-21 rebounding edge, but Stanford had just 8 turnovers to USC’s 11. That was really making a difference.

Stanford would soon lead 56-55 with 5:03 to go after nice buckets inside from Ingram and Jones. Stanford now was tied on the glass with USC at 24 rebounds apiece. Stanford’s ability to hang with USC on the boards was huge.

Stanford would extend their lead to three points (58-55) with 3:10 to go after James Keefe scored inside. He was up to 4 points and 5 rebounds with his father and Stanford legend Adam Keefe in attendance. Keefe’s basket made it a 6-0 run for the Cardinal. USC was in some trouble, but at least they were getting Ellis back in the game, who took a nasty fall attempting a dunk just minutes before.

With 41.2 to go in the game, the game was tied 60-60 after Peterson hit a clutch three for USC. Stanford now had the ball. Stanford had a couple of bad possessions allowing USC to tie the game up after they went up 60-55 following a layup from Brandon Angel. The possession that really stung was Angel rushing a hasty three-pointer with a lot of time on the shot clock. By not milking more off the clock, Angel gave USC more time to work with.

Stanford would make the most of their next possession, leading 62-60 after Ingram easily scored inside. Angel would soon redeem himself by going to the foul line and making both foul shots to give Stanford a 64-61 lead with 11.6 to go after Mobley went 1-2 at the foul line. USC had the ball with one last possession to work with. It was just a matter of seeing what Stanford would do.

Stanford played great defense on the final possession with Jones almost getting a steal. Mobley would chuck up a desperation heave like George Costanza that would be rebounded by Keefe. USC tried to foul Keefe, but time had run out. Stanford escaped with a 64-61 win like Houdini.

For Stanford this is a huge win. It’s their fourth Quad-1 win of the season, the most of any Pac-12 team. On top of that, it’s their second win over a ranked opponent (the other being USC the first time they beat them). Stanford has USC’s number this season doing a great job of hanging tough with them on the glass and also taking care of the ball. In this game, Stanford won the rebounding battle 29-27 and the turnover battle 9-14. By out-rebounding USC and taking care of the ball, they were able to beat them for the second time this season.

What’s most impressive about this Stanford team is how everyone plays well as a team and there’s no panic. Everyone knows what they are a supposed to do and there’s a lot of trust that they have in one another. They don’t overly rely on one guy and everyone seems to be buying into the coaching staff’s message. Just across the board, they are really coming together. It’s beautiful to watch.

Up next for Stanford will be a road game at #7 UCLA on Saturday. That game will tip-off at 6:30 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Cardinal Sports Network radio.

Note: Stanford sophomore guard Noah Taitz (lower leg) was out and is listed as day-to-day.

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