USC Lets This One Get Away

When Washington State basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson recruited forward Jason Thompson from Butler City (Kan.) Community College, he knew that Thompson wouldn’t fold under pressure.

Sampson was right. Thompson didn’t fold in the Cougars’ 68-67 victory over USC in a Pacific 10 Conference opener Thursday night.

Seven seconds remained when Thompson stepped to the free-throw line, then went through his ritual, rubbing the soles of his shoes against the floor and doing deep knee bends.

Thompson made his first free throw to give the Cougars a 67-67 tie.

USC called time out to make Thompson think about his second shot. Thompson thought about it and calmly sank it to give the Cougars a one-point lead and the ballgame before 3,608 at Friel Court.

Was Thompson nervous?

“I had total confidence in myself,” he said.

Sampson said: “I recruited him for what he did tonight. Mental toughness is what separates him from the others. He can’t do a whole lot, but he wins.”

USC, which had used its last timeout to try to rattle Thompson, raced the ball up the court but guard Robert Pack missed a five-foot jump shot at the buzzer, touching off a wild celebration.

The Cougars mobbed Thompson as they ran over to celebrate in front of the WSU student section.

The Trojans just walked away in frustration after wasting a five-point lead in the final 46 seconds.

USC Coach George Raveling said his team deserved a better fate.

“In my heart, nothing against Washington State, but I think we’re a better basketball team,” Raveling said.

Trailing 58-52 with 5:49 remaining, the Trojans outscored Washington State, 13-2, to take a 62-60 lead.

USC increased its lead to five points after forward Ronnie Coleman made a free throw and teammate Calvin Banks followed Coleman’s missed second shot with 46 seconds remaining.

“When we got down by five late in the game, I think our kids showed a lot of character,” Sampson said.

Guard Darryl Woods hit a three-point jump shot from the right side to cut it to 65-63 with 37 seconds remaining.

Pack made two free throws with 34 seconds left to give USC a 67-63 lead.

But WSU guard David Martin sank another three-point shot with 19 seconds remaining to cut it to a point.

The Trojans called time out to set up a play, but guard Tony Fuller was fouled by Sean Tresvant on the ensuing inbounds play with 18 seconds remaining.

Fuller missed the front end of a one-and-one and Wood got the rebound to give the Cougars one more chance.

WSU actually had three chances. Guard Bennie Seltzer missed a jump shot and Martin got the rebound and missed a tip. Thompson got the rebound and was fouled by Coleman.

What were the Trojans trying to do on their final play?

“The play was just to get the ball up the court as fast as we could and get a good shot,” said center Chris Munk, who led USC with a career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds.

But Pack, who had 14 points, didn’t get off a good shot.

“I thought we did a great job of turning a bad thing into a good situation,” Raveling said of coming back from 11 points down with a 16-5 run. “But we dug ourselves too big of a hole with our lethargic play in the first half.”

Raveling said he hoped to put the ball in Coleman’s hands at least 20 times a game, but the Trojans did a poor job of getting the ball to Coleman, who made just seven of 13 shots and finished with 18 points.

Guard Harold Miner, who had played like a senior in the opener, played like the freshman he is Thursday, missing six of nine shots. He finished with six points.

Seltzer led Washington State with 22 points, including six three-point shots.

“Good thing Bennie scored 22 points tonight because had had seven turnovers and that’s just not acceptable in our program,” Sampson said. “I think he may have surprised USC tonight.”