Kidd Doesn’t Give Trojans a Chance : College basketball: Cal guard plays the whole game and keeps Bears in control against USC, 77-68.

OAKLAND —  The best hope USC had for a victory over California Thursday night was to catch the Bears looking ahead to their showdown with No. 1 UCLA on Sunday.

It was a wish that could have came true--if California didn’t have point guard Jason Kidd running the show.

Behind Kidd’s 16 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in 40 minutes, the Bears had enough to defeat a stubborn USC team, 77-68, before 14,500 at the Oakland Coliseum.

“You just never know what he’s going to do,” USC guard Brandon Martin said. “You don’t know if he’s going to pass, dribble or shoot. He just killed us in the first half.”

It was Kidd, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, who spearheaded a 21-9 run late in the first half that broke open a tight game and sent California to a 46-34 halftime lead.

Of the Bears’ 17 first-half baskets, 11 were either layups or dunks, as Kidd had seven assists.

“I’ve been in this conference since the 1970s and I’ve never seen a guard that I had greater respect for than Jason Kidd,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “He is just a dominant player on the floor who can control the pace of the game and get the ball to the right people under the right circumstances.”

USC made a run to start the second half behind seven points by Lorenzo Orr, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds, to close within six points. Kidd, however, answered with six points of his own to give California a 60-45 lead with nine minutes remaining.

Martin, who was not expected to play because of stomach problems, sparked a late USC rally with 17 of his career-high 24 points in the second half. He made four of six three-pointers and helped pull the Trojans within 69-63 with four minutes left.

USC’s comeback proved to be too late, as California held on. Lamond Murray scored five of his 21 points to clinch the victory.

“I thought that Brandon showed his character tonight because he hadn’t been able to practice all week,” Raveling said. “He showed his mental toughness and I think that we should have gotten the ball to him more.”

USC, which has lost four consecutive games, is 10-6 overall and 3-4 in Pacific 10 Conference play.

“We just have to stick together through rough times like this,” Orr said. “I know that we’ll win some games. We just can’t get down on ourselves.”

California (11-4, 4-2) moves on to play UCLA and will probably have to do so without starters Alfred Grisby (hamstring) and Anwar McQueen (foot), neither of whom played against the Trojans.

“I don’t think that we have a choice to see if we’re ready to play UCLA or not,” California Coach Todd Bozeman said.

“But I think we’re ready to play with anybody. It doesn’t matter to us whether UCLA was ranked No. 1 or No. 20.”

Trojan Notes

Burt Harris started at point guard but got in foul trouble and did not score in 13 minutes of play. Damaine Powell, Harris’ backup, had eight assists but also did not score in 27 minutes. Senior Mark Boyd scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. . . . USC will play at Stanford Saturday.