USC can’t handle swat team

PALO ALTO —  USC took a wrong turn in its first foray into the national rankings in nearly five years, getting lost amid the trees in unfamiliar territory.

And now it could take some doing for the Trojans to find their way back.

Brook and Robin Lopez, Stanford’s towering 7-foot freshman twins, made the No. 25 Trojans seem invisible Thursday night during a 65-50 Cardinal victory at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford set a school record with 19 blocked shots and Brook Lopez had 12 of them, also a school record, as the Cardinal outclassed the Trojans on a court where they have not won since 2002. The 18-year-old twins continually energized a crowd of 7,145 to lead Stanford to an easier-than-expected victory.

“They looked like first-round draft picks,” USC junior swingman Nick Young said. “The way they played tonight was similar to the Florida guys. It was real tough playing against them.”

Brook Lopez finished with a triple-double, including 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Stanford controlled the game at both ends of the court, shooting 48.1% to USC’s 28.4%. It was the most blocks ever by an individual and a team against the Trojans.

Cardinal sophomore forward Lawrence Hill had 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, and Robin Lopez had six points and three blocks.

“They were better than us because of their defense,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said. “They influenced shots that they didn’t block and they blocked 19 shots.”

Trailing by 22 points midway through the second half, the Trojans (15-6 overall, 5-3 Pacific 10 Conference) made one last run to cut their deficit to 51-42 on a three-point play by freshman guard Dwight Lewis with 4 minutes 14 seconds remaining.

With USC football Coach Pete Carroll cheering from several rows behind the team bench, the Trojans had several more chances in the final minutes but could draw no closer than nine points.

Perhaps the night’s most emblematic sequence occurred early in the second half, when Brook Lopez blocked consecutive shots by USC freshman forward Taj Gibson. Given a third opportunity underneath the basket, Gibson threw a cross-court pass to Young, who missed a three-pointer from the corner.

“Most of the time you’d think you’d get the shot up, but his length would get it,” said Gibson, who had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Floyd could only shake his head in disbelief later after Brook Lopez blocked another shot by Young, who had 13 points but did not score efficiently, making only five of 19 shots.

“He was blocking shots out of nowhere,” Young said. “I thought that I had clear layups and he came out of nowhere.”

The Cardinal (13-5, 5-3) seemed a foot taller and a step faster from the outset during what was perhaps the ugliest first half of Floyd’s two seasons with the Trojans. Things were going so well for Stanford that sophomore guard Anthony Goods inadvertently banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key late in the first half to give the Cardinal a 19-point lead.

Brook Lopez was especially active in the early going, scoring the Cardinal’s first six points on two baskets in the paint and a long jumper. Hill then blocked a shot by Young and dunked on a breakaway to give Stanford an early six-point lead that would quickly balloon to double digits.

“We didn’t get the game started the way we wanted to start it,” said Floyd, who quickly benched starting center Abdoulaye N’diaye after he had a jump hook blocked by Brook Lopez.

It was not the kind of effort the Trojans were hoping for after moving into the national rankings for the first time since March 2002. USC had won its first two Pac-10 road games, at Oregon and Oregon State, but found winning at Maples on this night too tall an order.

“It’s a long season,” Gibson said. “We’ll see them again in L.A.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com