SAN DIEGO (AP)—With less than a minute left and the game well in hand, Southern Cal coach Jim Saia called timeout and had his players huddle up.
Saia is already doing things differently that his predecesor, Henry Bibby, who was fired on Monday.
Sophomore guard Lodrick Stewart scored a career-high 27 points and Gregg Guenther had 16 rebounds to lead USC to an 87-75 win over the San Diego Toreros on Saturday, capping a whirlwind week for the Trojans.
Saia was named interim coach when Bibby was fired after nine seasons, including three trips to the NCAA tournament. He lost his debut two days later, 71-68 to Fresno State.
“I’m trying to build chemistry,” Saia said in explaining why he called timeout with just 20 seconds left. “They’re starting to be a team and to like playing with one another. I want to give these guys all I can give for however long I’m with them.”
Saia said one of his assistants told him that was the first time the Trojans huddled up during a timeout.
He also wasn’t nervous like he was in his debut Wednesday night.
“I just coached the way I coached,” Saia said. He had no prior Division I head coaching experience, although he was a well-traveled assistant, including seven seasons at UCLA. “I felt like I was in junior college again on the sidelines, and the way I was at UCLA when I ran the offense. I felt free.”
Saia said the win was “special in the fact that our team played really good basketball.”
The game was the opener of the San Diego Slam at San Diego State’s Cox Arena. Cal played San Diego State in the second game of the one-day tournament sponsored by SDSU and the San Diego International Sports Council.
USC (3-3) beat San Diego for the third time since 2001.
“It’s been a hard week,” said Stewart, whose twin brother, Rodrick, quit the team in November. “We lost our head coach, coach Bibby, but now we have a coach who believes in our team.”
USD (3-5) tied the game three times, including twice in the second half, but never took the lead. Brandon Gay made a layup with 13 minutes left to tie it at 55 before USC pulled away, starting with a jumper by Stewart, whose previous career-high was 22 against BYU a week earlier.
“It was our defense opening up our offense that made a difference,” Stewart said.
“I thought our pressure really bothered them, Saia said.
Stewart’s final points came on a slam dunk with 44 seconds and he was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Errick Craven added 14 points for the Trojans, Gabe Pruitt had 12 and Nick Curtis and Guenther had 11 each.
Guenther’s 16 rebounds were a career-high, beating his previous best by three.
Bryce Vounang had 26 points for USD, followed by Gay with 16 and Avi Fogel, 13.
USC led 47-40 at halftime.
USD shot just 44. 4 percent overall, and the Toreros’ guards were just 5-for-24.
“This game was there for the taking and we didn’t step up and take it,” USD coach Brad Holland said. “For all our shortcomings tonight, if we make a few shots, the outcome of the game is different.”
