WSU, USC finish off Pac-10 race

PULLMAN – Imagine two race cars just laps from the finish line, with the fuel light shining brightly from the dashboard of each. One car has the fuel to finish, and the other – well, who knows?

Now paint the USC logo on one car and the WSU logo on the other, and you might just have a picture of what today’s regular-season finale between the two will look like.

“That’s a good analogy,” WSU’s Kyle Weaver said. “That pretty much describes it. Hopefully, we can last a little longer than them.”

Second place in the Pac-10 is on the line at 4 p.m. today in Beasley Coliseum, but both teams are limping into this game, at least to a degree.

The No. 13 Cougars lost a physical game to second-ranked UCLA on Thursday, and whether they’ll recover from that defeat and fatigue in time to win a 13th conference game remains to be seen.

The No. 23 Trojans are in a similar situation, having lost by 15 at Washington on Thursday in a disappointing effort.

But that loss changed little in terms of USC’s potential finish. If they win today, the Trojans have the tiebreaker for the second seed in the conference tournament over WSU. The Cougars, meanwhile, lost out on the possibility of splitting the Pac-10 title with their loss.

“You always want to finish as good as you can, but it doesn’t have the same significance as playing for the title,” WSU’s Daven Harmeling said of playing for second. “Both teams are going to be so scrappy. Neither team is going to lay down.”

If it’s any consolation to the Cougars, coach Tony Bennett said his team didn’t play all that poorly against the Bruins. In stretches, WSU was matching UCLA point for point. With less than a minute to go, the Cougars were only two possessions away from either tying the game or taking a lead.

Still, three WSU players – Weaver, Ivory Clark and Robbie Cowgill – needed attention from the training staff during the game because of injuries suffered along the way. Although all should be fine, this is clearly a team that’s going to have to fight for every win, this one in particular.

“It wasn’t like we were so bad (Thursday) or anything like it. It was just a hard-fought game against a good team,” Bennett said. “You’re playing for a seeding and I think it’s still significant. I think everyone’s scratching at this point of the year. I really do.”