They scored the game’s first 13 points and took a 10-point lead to halftime, but that was inconsequential halfway through the second half, when the USC Trojans would have had every excuse to crater under the weight of their misfortune.
Stanford now led by three points, thanks to five three-pointers from freshman marksman Cormac Ryan, and the Trojans, already down to seven scholarship players, were unsure of what they could expect from starter Jonah Mathews, who had just hopped off to the locker room to have his ankle taped.
Rakocevic has carried the Trojans all season and was on his way to another routine double-double, but he would need help Sunday night to shake off his fear of it all going wrong again.