Semi-disappointing

LOS ANGELES – Beating a team for a third time this season was no problem for Washington State in this year’s Pac-10 men’s basketball tournament. But doing so on back-to-back nights?

Well, that wasn’t quite so simple.

WSU, having defeated USC twice in the regular season by a combined five points, lost 70-61 in the Staples Center Friday night, and with the win the Trojans (24-10) earned the right to play Oregon for the tournament title this afternoon.

The Cougars (25-7) have to fly back home and wait for a day before finding out whom they’ll play in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Cougars are almost certainly destined for either a three or a four seed, most likely in Sacramento, Calif.

“Hey, we’ll get another day of rest, so we’ll look at it positively that way,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “We can learn from this. It’s not the end of our season.”

Even in defeat, the Cougs, who had last played USC just six days earlier, did manage to prove once again that they will not go away without a struggle. USC jumped to a double-digit lead early and though the Cougs never led after being up 10-9, they made repeated efforts to get back within striking distance.

But every time the Cougars got close, either a costly turnover or – more likely – a missed shot did them in. WSU was 8 for 32 from the field in the second half, unable to get to the basket as it did the night before and equally off in making open jump shots.

“It was just that little hump, four or five points, that we couldn’t get over,” Cougars guard Taylor Rochestie said. “If we had just gotten over that then we would have been set.

Knocking down shots posed no such problem for USC.

The Trojans blistered the Cougars defense in the first half from outside, making 8 of 11 first-half 3-pointers. On the game, USC made 10 of 16 with Gabe Pruitt alone nailing six of his seven jumpers from outside. (An eighth attempt resulted in a foul and three successful free throws, and Pruitt finished with a game-high 26 points.)

“He was a handful for everybody,” said Derrick Low, who made 5 of 14 3-pointers to lead WSU with 15 points. “They caught fire early, and that kind of team, you can’t give them that many looks.”

Still, the Cougars gave themselves a chance by making a late first-half run to get within four at the break. The game had a similar feel to the Cougars victory against Washington the night before, but this time WSU couldn’t find the shots it needed.

“We did a great job defensively in the second half,” USC coach Tim Floyd said. “They are a gritty group and I thought our guys really took from the last game, took from the film session (earlier) and got it to the floor.”

Most significant, the Trojans found a way to keep the ball from WSU center Aron Baynes.

In the game six days earlier, the sophomore had 25 points for the Cougars and didn’t miss in 10 shots. Baynes was constantly fronted in the low post and double-teamed whenever he touched the ball.

As a result, he had just seven points on four shots.

“I didn’t think we got enough touches for Baynes, but they did a better job in this game of collapsing around him,” Bennett said. “Coach Tim Floyd did a good job of making it hard for us.”

The Cougars will have to go back home, hoping to make life similarly difficult for an undetermined non-conference foe in the much more significant tournament to come.

USC 70, WSU 61

Percentages: FG .474, FT .727. 3-Point Goals: 10-16, .625 (Pruitt 6-7, Young 2-3, Stewart 2-5, Lewis 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 2 (Gibson 2). Turnovers: 8 (Young 2, Stewart 2, Gibson 2, Hackett, N’diaye). Steals: 5 (Pruitt 2, Young, Stewart, Gibson). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .361, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 11-30, .367 (Low 5-14, Rochestie 3-6, Weaver 2-4, Harmeling 1-4, Hopson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 8 (Weaver 3, Baynes 2, Low, Rochestie, Harmeling). Steals: 3 (Rochestie, Weaver, Cowgill). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Southern California 38, Washington State 34. A–18,196.