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Chasson Randle missed a driving layup and Dwight Powell missed a dunk in the final five seconds and the Stanford men's basketball team missed a chance to open Pac-12 Conference on a good note.

Jio Fontan sank two free throws with seven seconds remaining to play, giving host USC a 71-69 victory over the Cardinal on Thursday night.

Stanford (0-1, 9-5) looks to rebound Saturday when it travels to Pauley Pavilion for a noon contest with UCLA (Pac-12 Networks).

Missing two shots at the end of the game merely followed the trend of the second half for Stanford, which shot .267 from the field in the final 20 minutes after shooting .517 in the first half.

Free throws weren't much different. After making five of six in the first half, the Cardinal was 9 of 17 from the foul line following intermission.

"I think we'll look back and when we watch the film, we will see that both teams did a terrific job defensively," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "If you look back, you will see we had some layups and free throws that we didn't hit. Unfortunately, we had a couple of dunk opportunities right at the basket and a couple of free throws we also didn't make."

Andy Brown scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in a seven-minute span of the first half that helped Stanford build a 42-33 halftime lead. The Cardinal also dominated the boards with a 23-8 advantage in the half.

USC outrebounded the Cardinal by a 25-12 margin in the second half and needed just nine minutes to erase its nine-point deficit.

Powell, who finished with 11 points, hit a 3-pointer with 4:17 remaining to put Stanford ahead, 65-61. The Cardinal made one of its final nine shots.

Josh Huestis recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go with two blocked shots. He had five offensive boards, or one fewer than the Trojans as a team.

Aaron Bright scored 12 points and had five assists during a game in which he was perfect on six foul shots and missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

Brown and John Gage combined to make nine of 11 shots from the field while the rest of the team was 14 of 48.

Wrestling
The Cardinal hosts the Stanford Duals on Sunday, Jan. 6, welcoming Pac-12 foe Arizona State, Penn and Rutgers to The Farm.

Stanford will face the Sun Devils at 2 p.m., the Quakers at 3:45 p.m. and the Scarlet Knights at 5:30 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion. ASU will square-off with Rutgers at 3:45 p.m. and Penn at 5:30 p.m.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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