Jan. 17, 1998

Trojans Fall at Cal, 92-82

By DENNIS GEORGATOS
AP Sports Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Thomas Kilgore scored 19 points and Michael Gill matched his career-high with 18 as California rebounded from successive losses to Top 10 teams by beating Southern California 92-82 Saturday.

Sean Lampley added 15 points and Francisco Elson had a career-high 10 for Cal (6-7, 2-3 Pac-10), which defeated USC (6-10, 2-4) for the sixth time in the past seven meetings.

Cal, coming off losses to No. 8 UCLA and No. 7 Stanford, registered a season high in points while picking up its first conference win at home this season.

The Golden Bears outshot the Trojans 52 percent-46 percent. USC also committed 21 turnovers, leading to 23 Cal points. Kilgore had seven of Cal's 25 assists.

Gary Johnson's 18 points led USC, which has lost nine of its last 11 games, while Jarvis Turner added 17 and Adam Spanich had 16.

The Trojans started the second half with consecutive baskets, going in front 39-38 on Anthony White's putback.

Cal answered with a 17-3 surge that put the Bears back in front 55-42 with 15:05 left, their biggest lead to that point. Gill scored the last 10 points in the flurry for Cal, twice hitting 3-pointers and adding a layup and a bank shot.

White broke up the run and a three-minute scoring drought by USC when he made a 14-foot jumper with 13:29 remaining. But Cal took off again on a 9-3 spurt, moving in front 64-47 to stay in control of the game. Elson had six points during the run, including a layup after a fastbreak started by his block of a shot by Gary Williams.

Sean Marks scored all nine of his points in the first half, including three dunks, helping Cal take a 38-35 halftime lead.

The Bears were ahead 35-29 but USC scored six of the next nine points over the last 2 1/2 minutes to narrow the halftime deficit to three.