LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Reserve Ryan Mendez scored eight of his career-high 24 points in a two-minute span in the first half Saturday night and No. 2 Stanford, using its stifling defense, beat Southern California 67-57.

The Trojans made only 32.8 percent of their shots (22-of-67). Only four teams have shot over 40 percent against Stanford this season, and none over 50. Overall, opponents of the Cardinal have made less than 34 percent of their shots.

In additional, the Cardinal outrebounded USC 50-27.

Mendez, a junior averaging 9.4 points, scored eight in a row to trigger a 15-0 Stanford run that began midway through the first half and put the Cardinal (19-1, 8-1 Pac-10) ahead for good. His previous career high was 18.

David Moseley had 13 points and nine rebounds and freshman Casey Jacobsen also scored 13 points for Stanford _ all in the second half.

Brian Scalabrine had 20 points and six rebounds and Jeff Trepagnier added 16 points for the Trojans (13-8, 6-3), who lost for the third time in four games after a seven-game winning streak.

Stanford has won seven straight games by an average of 19 points since losing to No. 9 Arizona 68-65 on Jan. 8, and is 26-4 in road games during the last three seasons.

Trepagnier scored five points to spark a 7-2 USC run early in the second half, cutting Stanford's lead to four points.

However, the Cardinal scored the next seven points to make it 41-30, and the Trojans weren't closer than eight points after that. USC scored the game's final five points to make the final margin 10.

Stanford endured a five-minute scoring drought early in the game, but thanks to its defense, trailed by just four points when it ended.

The Trojans extended their lead to 15-9 on Nate Hair's 3-point shot with 10:40 left before halftime. However, USC went stone cold at that stage, failing to score for 6 1/2 minutes and going without a field goal for nine minutes.

After Mendez made two 3-point shots and a pair of free throws, Mark Madsen scored two straight baskets and Moseley added another 3-point shot, giving the Cardinal a 24-15 lead.

Scalabrine ended the USC drought by making two foul shots with 4:09 left before halftime, triggering an 8-4 run to finish the half, that cut Stanford's lead to 28-23.