Los Angeles, CA – Coach Enfield asked the Wizard what do Trojans need to do to beat those Cougars? And Wizard said ” have your boys click there cardinal red hightops three times and say there’s no place like home.” And with that magical advice the Trojans beat the Cougars with a final score USC 81 WSU 71. Okay maybe they also had to throw in tons of elbow grease with those high tops.
Tonight marks the 119th all-time meeting between Washington State and USC, as the Trojans hold a 72-48 advantage in the series. USC won the first meeting between these two teams in PAC-12 opener on January 1 in Pullman Washington.
After the two losses USC sustained against Oregon and Oregon State the Cougars were hoping the Trojans unlucky losing streak would hold out long enough for them to get their much needed win. Washington state being a worthy opponent would get no such break today.
The Trojans Jordan McLaughlin appeared to be still recovering from being under the weather, looked like he was missing his normal radiant confidence, but with aid of USC’s talent field bench and spirit rich fans that would be more than enough energy to subsidize the missing fury that would be needed to nail that elusive “W”.
The double take brothers Chimezie Metu and Nikola Jovanovic put on a mind blowing show with their mad rebounding skills and ability to convert them into very effective fast-break points. This must be why USC is ranked first place in the PAC-12 for rebounds.
Katin Reinhardt and Elijah Stewart showed that the win would go to the team with the most consistency on the basic fundamentals. With both men shooting 100% from the free-throw line tonight I bet Washington State is thinking lesson learned.
I must not fail to mention the director of assist Julian Jacobs with 9 assist for tonight giving him first place ranking in the league.
The Cougars played strong competitive ball tonight. The lead changed hands 14 times. Josh Hawkinson, Ike Iroegbu and Que Johnson all had double digits. It just wasn’t enough to get it done.
The Trojans next game on January 30 will be against Washington. USC is looking to make a payback for the win that was stolen from them on their last matchup on January 3rd.
