Trojans Beat Cal Easily

USC 33 - CAL 3

Trojans versus Golden Bears. A matchup for the ages. But with both teams suffering disheartening losses, the game became much more important. USC prevailed easily though, almost assuring Cal of being removed from the top 25 rankings. Joe McKnight had two touchdown runs, and Damian Williams returned a punt for 66 yards and a TD. The Bears had only 88 rushing yards, with the Trojans easily stifling "Heisman candidate" Jahvid Best.

Photo by Ezra Small/Getty Images

Pac-10 Tourney - Round 1

USC - The Trojans knocked off the California Golden Bears to advance to the semifinals 79-75. Daniel Hackett hit four late free-throws in the final 3.8 seconds of the game to lift USC. The Trojans nearly lost an 18-point lead after Cal tied the score at 75, but with Hackett's free-throws, the Bears could not keep up. Taj Gibson led USC with 21 points and 16 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Hackett finished with 15 points, and Dwight Lewis added 11. Patrick Christopher led Cal with 15 points, and Jorge Gutierrez added 14.

UCLA - The Bruins took down Washington State 64-53, and will advance to the semifinals. UCLA took a 21-0 run through the first half to take a 20-point lead, and the Cougars shot just 30% from the field. The win avenged an 82-81 loss at home last month. Darren Collison led the Bruins with 15 points, and Nikola Dragovic added 12. Both Josh Shipp and Jrue Holiday had 10. Aron Baynes led WSU with 22 points.

USC and UCLA will play each other in the second round of the Pac-10 tournament.

College Basketball Roundup - No. California Pt. 4

UCLA - The Bruins defeated California 72-68, keeping them in the race for the Pac-10 title. However, if they do win, they will have to share the title with Washington, who can clinch the title next week by defeating Washington State. UCLA had only 6 turnovers. Darren Collison hit the game-winning shot, and led all scorers with 22 points. Jerome Randle led the Bears with 20 points.

USC - The Trojans fell to Stanford 75-63, their sixth loss in seven games. USC took a serious hit in its bid for an NCAA tournament berth. The Trojans blew a 10 point lead with just 13 minutes left. Taj Gibson had 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead USC, and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 points. Anthony Goods led the Cardinal with 20 points.

College Basketball Roundup - No. California Pt. 3

UCLA - The Bruins defeated Stanford 76-71, their 10th conference win of the season. UCLA made a big comeback after the Cardinal had a 14 point lead in the first-half. Josh Shipp had 23 points, and Alfred Aboya finished with 16. Anthony Goods led Stanford with 18 points, and Landry Fields had 16. The victory kept the Bruins in the race for the Pac-10 title.

USC - The Trojans fell to California 81-78 in overtime, their 8 conference loss of the season. The loss is USC's fifth in their last six games. The Bears gave up a 10 point lead, but used the OT to pull away. Daniel Hackett had 26 points and 4 assists for the Trojans, and Patrick Christopher scored a career-high 29 points for the Golden Bears.

College Basketball Roundup - No. California Pt. 2

UCLA - The Bruins kept their foot on the offensive pedal, defeating Stanford 97-63. UCLA had its highest scoring conference game under coach Ben Howland, as the Bruins shot .631 from inside the arc, and went 11-for-15 from 3-point range. The Cardinal had a tough time breaking through UCLA's air-tight defense, ending the game with a .385 shooting percentage. Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday and Alfred Aboya each had 15 points; Holiday also grabbed 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Michael Roll had 12 points, and Josh Shipp finished with 11. Anthony Goods scored 15 points for Stanford, and was the only Cardinal to score double-figures.

USC - The Trojans won for the fifth time in six games, defeating the Cal Golden Bears 73-62. USC forced 23 fouls and took 29 free-throw attempts, though only making 17. On the other hand, the Trojans committed 14 fouls, and Cal took just 14 free-throws, making 12 of them. DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 19 points, and Daniel Hackett finished with 14. Taj Gibson and Dwight Lewis each scored 12 points; Gibson also having 13 rebounds. Jamal Boykin led the Bears with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Wilkes scored 16.

College Basketball Roundup - No. California

UCLA - The Bruins rebounded from a tough loss to the Huskies by beating the Cal Golden Bears, 81-66. For UCLA, they returned to their dominating offense after playing their last two games very listlessly. The Bruins forced 21 turnovers, and held the Bears to 45% shooting. Darren Collison led UCLA with 18 points and 5 assists. Jrue Holiday scored 13 points, and Josh Shipp added 11. Theo Robertson led Cal with 19 points, and Jerome Randle scored 11.

USC - The Trojans held off a late rally to defeat Stanford 70-69. The Cardinal had a chance to win the game at the last second, but Lawrence Hill's jumper went in and out. Taj Gibson played through pneumonia and Daniel Hackett battled the flu, but both played close to 40 minutes. USC is now within a game of first in the Pac-10. Gibson had 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting and Hackett grabbed 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Hill led Stanford with 19 points and Landry Fields added 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Nowhere to Go But Up for Trojans

The USC Trojans defeated the #21 Cal Bears 17-3, and look to move up in the BCS rankings after # 3 Penn State's loss to Iowa. QB Mark Sanchez had two TD passes with 238 yards.