Cougars Lose Touch In A Hurry

In case anyone thought Thursday night’s 28-point loss to UCLA was a fluke, Washington State went out Saturday afternoon and lowered the limbo bar another notch, losing 106-73 to USC before 2,868 in the Sports Arena.

Thus ended the Cougars’ longest road trip of this 1996-97 basketball season, a 16-day misadventure that took them through Spokane, Hawaii and Los Angeles and lowered their record from 7-1 to 8-5.

“We’re just energy-less right now,” coach Kevin Eastman said. “And without energy, we’re not very good. We need to go home and regroup.”

He’ll get no argument from the WSU record book.

The UCLA loss had been the Cougars’ most lopsided since 1991, a span of 177 games. Saturday’s was their worst since March 3, 1988, when they fell 79-41 at Arizona, and it marked the first time the Cougars have yielded 100 points in a non-overtime game since 1976.

The UCLA and USC losses are even more confounding - for the first time since 1973, George Raveling’s first year as coach, the Cougars have dropped consecutive games by 25 or more points.

Most importantly, Saturday’s loss left the Cougars 0-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference, increasing the urgency of upcoming games against Oregon and Oregon State, both in Spokane.

“We have to find it within ourselves,” said junior forward Carlos Daniel, who led WSU with 17 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. “It’s about us, not about the opponents.”

While the Bruins and Trojans might debate that point, the Cougars are certainly capable of playing better.

The upstart Trojans, 2-0 in the Pac-10 for the first time since 1994, might not be.

Led by the perimeter marksmanship of senior guard/forward Stais Boseman, who finished with 23 points and five steals, USC blew the game open in the first 15 minutes. A 15-1 burst was most critical, giving the Trojans a 31-14 lead with 5:23 left in the first half.

“We’ve had a great weekend of basketball,” said USC coach Henry Bibby, mindful of Thursday night’s 77-58 victory over Washington. “Stais played a very, very good game - he shot well, defended fairly well and played with more intensity.”

Boseman, who needs eight steals to tie Derrick Dowell (1984-87) for the most in school history, had plenty of help.

Kentucky transfer Rodrick Rhodes, playing the vaguely defined “point-forward” position, had 12 points and seven assists despite suffering a bruised thigh midway through the first half.

WSU lacked toughness throughout, reflected in USC’s gaudy 62.1 percent shooting. Rhodes, Elias Ayuso, Jaha Wilson and Danny Walker combined to make 15 of 18 field goals, finding little resistance inside or out.

The softness carried over on offense - WSU’s first drive to the basket came with 5:06 left in the first half. Point guard Kareem Jackson drew a foul on the play, making both free throws to put an end to the Trojans’ 15-1 run.

By then, the damage was irreparable.

The Trojans, already up 46-27 at halftime, reeled off nine straight points to start the second half. Their largest lead, 75-42, came with 11:58 remaining.

WSU guard Isaac Fontaine, averaging 20.6 points per game coming in, was held to 15 on 6-for-13 shooting.

USC 106, Washington St. 73

Washington St. (8-5) - Daniel 7-14 3-4 17, C. Johnson 0-5 1-2 1, De la Fuente 4-5 0-0 8, Jackson 1-3 2-3 4, Fontaine 6-13 1-2 15, Pengelly 3-4 5-6 13, Mack 3-4 0-3 6, Archibald 2-5 0-0 4, Crosby 2-4 0-0 5, Slotemaker 0-2 0-0 0, Hutchens 0-1 0-0 0, Mott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-60 12-20 73.

USC (7-3) - Williams 3-7 0-0 6, Boseman 9-14 2-7 23, Crouse 0-1 1-2 1, Rhodes 4-5 2-2 12, Ayuso 3-4 6-6 15, Sims 2-5 3-3 8, Wilson 4-5 1-1 9, White 3-4 2-5 8, Walker 4-4 4-4 14, Turner 2-6 0-2 4, G. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Souferian 1-1 0-0 3, Shoukry 0-0 0-0 0, Daffeh 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 36-58 21-32 106.

Halftime-USC 46, WSU 27. 3-Point goals-WSU 5-12 (Fontaine 2-4, Pengelly 2-3, Crosby 1-1, Archibald 0-2, Jackson 0-1, C. Johnson 0-1), USC 13-19 (Ayuso 3-3, Boseman 3-4, Rhodes 2-3, Walker 2-2, Daffeh 1-1, Souferian 1-1, Sims 1-4, G. Williams 0-1). Fouled out-Walker. Rebounds-WSU 32 (Daniel 13), USC 33 (White 6). Assists-WSU 12 (Jackson 4), USC 23 (Rhodes 7). Total fouls-WSU 25, USC 19. Technical-Wilson. A-2,868.

, DataTimes