Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 14 rebounds in USC's 54-49 victory over Stanford Saturday. (Photo by Mario Villegas)
Story Published:
Feb 8, 2010 at 11:34 AM PDT
Story Updated:
Feb 8, 2010 at 3:45 PM PDT
Nikola Vucevic has made huge strides from last year to now and will make even more next season in the view of USC coach Kevin O’Neill.
Little used as a freshman, the 6-foot-10 native of Bar, Montenegro is pretty big right now for the Trojans, as his averages of 11.8 points and a Pac-10 leading 9.8 rebounds per game attest.
He was a big reason USC (14-9, 6-5) was able to survive Saturday with Stanford at Galen Center, winning, 54-49 to get a split of the Bay Area schools last week.
He finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds and scored the biggest basket of the night with a tap-in with 26.4 seconds left to give the Trojans a 50-49 lead they would not relinquish.
Marcus Johnson and Dwight Lewis hit two free throws each down the stretch to extend the lead and keep the Cardinal (10-13, 4-7) at bay.
“You’re only going to see Nikola get better,” O’Neill said. “He’s a young guy who’s immature. Eighteen and 14 is great for a guy who hardly played and averaged about one point per game (it was actually 2.3) a year ago. The growth you’ll see from him next year will be huge.”
Another important factor is the presence of Johnson, the senior forward from Westchester High School.
It was no coincidence the Trojans struggled defensively when he was not in there. Foul trouble put him on the bench for long stretches and he eventually fouled out, playing just 26 minutes. This enabled Stanford’s Landry Fields, the Pac-10’s leading scorer, to go off.
Fields, who had a game-high 27 points, did most of his damage when Johnson was not on the floor. Johnson’s presence was essential at both ends of the court, according to O’Neill.
“Marcus is our best penetrator and our best energy guy,” he said. “When his energy is up, ours is up. When his isn’t, ours isn’t.”
Though he had nine points, six rebounds and three assists, it was at the defensive end that proved the most critical, O’Neill added.
“He did the best job on Fields,” the coach said. “He has a little more size and a little more bulk than Marcus Simmons (who defended the Cardinal star when Johnson was not in here) to match up with Fields. We struggled when Marcus Johnson was on the bench with foul trouble.”
USC battled back from a second-half deficit, tying the score at 44 on a Johnson drive and at 46 on a Vucevic layin off a Johnson feed. Jeremy Green, who missed his first nine shots, hit a 3-pointer at the 1:50 mark to give Stanford its last lead at 49-48.
Point guard Mike Gerrity added 11 points for USC.
It was a huge win for the Trojans, who moved into a five-way tie for second place, a game back of California (15-8, 7-4). USC hosts UCLA (11-12, 6-5) at 7 p.m. Sunday in the only game this week for both teams.
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