NO. CAL POWER SURGE STANFORD GETS A LATE CALL, AND A VICTORY STANFORD 77, USC 71.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

PALO ALTO - USC nearly upset No. 1-ranked Stanford on Thursday, but coach Henry Bibby was far more preoccupied with a four-second sequence he felt robbed the Trojans of a chance for victory.

While the Cardinal held on for a 77-71 victory before 7,391 at Maples Pavilion, Bibby was incensed over the game's key play when Stanford star guard Casey Jacobsen scored with 1:31 left.

USC trailed 68-67 when Jacobsen took an inbounds pass, drove the lane and made a desperate, leaning 4-foot shot that hit the front of the rim and then rolled inside the basket.

USC coaches were livid after the play, because Stanford inbounded the ball with four seconds on the shot clock. USC claimed the timer never started the clock on the play. The timer said he was not sure if he had started the shot clock, but 7 seconds elapsed off the game clock between the inbounds pass and Jacobsen's basket.

``That's the advantage of being at home and the officials not being in the game,'' Bibby said. ``He dribbled from the far right side of the court and took five dribbles. That's a big play and it can't happen.''

Jacobsen, who scored a game-high 22 points, said he thought he took less than four seconds.

There was no doubt in my mind it was four seconds,'' Jacobsen said. ``I was counting it down. I wasn't running the clock. They can claim it was more than four seconds.''

The basket gave Stanford (20-0, 8-0) a 70-67 lead and the Trojans never got closer.

Bibby was also unhappy about a play later in the game, when USC was inbounding the ball with 46 seconds left in the game. He said the clock started before the Trojans threw the ball in play.

``The clock was ticking,'' he said. ``The No. 1 team in the country doesn't need that.''

Aside from the controversy, the 21st-ranked Trojans (15-5, 5-3) played perhaps their best game of the season, considering the competition. Brian Scalabrine, Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal each scored at least 15 points, a rarity this year.

``This is what we've been waiting for all year,'' Bibby said.

There were several dramatic plays in the second half, as the Trojans tried to pull off a huge upset, including a back-to-back possession where USC guard Jeff Trepagnier, who is 6-foot-4 blocked a shot by 7-foot center Curtis Borchart. USC got possession and point guard Brandon Granville was rejected by Stanford's Jarron Collins.

USC hit 56 percent of its shots in the first half, including 6 for 7 on 3-pointers, and led 34-31 at halftime, in perhaps the best half the Trojans have played this season. The Trojans actually had a 34-27 lead before Stanford center Jason Collins scored inside twice.

The first half was even more surprising because Scalabrine picked up three quick fouls and played only 10 minutes.

Scalabrine was called for charging with 12:30 left for his second foul. With 9:45 remaining, he was called for going over the back on an offensive rebound, and had three fouls barely 10 minutes into the game.

That should have hurt the Trojans, but it didn't. USC, which suddenly demonstrated an ability to hit the 3-point shot, something the Trojans struggled with all season.

Granville was 3 for 3 on 3-pointers and Bluthenthal 2 for 2. Even senior forward Jarvis Turner made one, just his second of the year.

The Trojans were also containing Jacobsen, who had just four points in the half on 1 for 4 shooting. But he broke loose with 18 in the second half.

Former Harvard-Westlake player Jason Collins had a team-high 10 points while his twin brother, Jarron, added seven.

Stanford shot 46 percent in the first half, below its team average of 52 percent in Pac-10 games.

--Turmoil: In another sign of turmoil within the Trojans, sophomore guard Nate Hair did not make the trip to the Bay Area and remained in Los Angeles. Hair, who did not play in six of USC's previous eight games after averaging 18.5 minutes at the start of the season, is taking a leave of absence from the team to assess his future.

That Hair was taking a leave of absence was barely confirmed by USC officials, who could not even answer if Hair would return to the team this season.

Hair scored six points in Saturday's game against Oregon State, his first extended action He's averaging 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds this season.

This follows last week incident when three walk-ons quit the team, after Bibby ordered them to sit behind the bench, instead of with the rest of the team during home games. USC did not bring any either of its two remaining walk-ons, guards Anthony Saadey and Eze Burts, to the Bay Areato replace Hair and will suit up 12 players in both games this weekend.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Jason Collins (34) of Stanford loses the ball to USC's David Bluthenthal Thursday night in Palo Alto.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

(2) USC's Sam Clancy pulls down a rebound for the Trojans during their game at Stanford Thursday. The No. 1 Cardinal won 77-71.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press