Trojans Tied for Third After Win : USC: Embarrassing loss to Washington is followed by an 80-62 victory over Washington State.

After a 17-point loss at Washington on Thursday, USC basketball Coach George Raveling planned to put the Trojans through two practice sessions Friday, one in Spokane, one in Pullman.

But he canceled those plans after a snowstorm hit the Palouse on Friday, disrupting the Trojans’ travel schedule. USC was limited to one practice Friday night in Pullman.

Still, the Trojans managed to defeat Washington State, 80-62, Saturday at Friel Court and keep hopes for an NCAA tournament bid alive.

The Trojans shot only 36.9% in the 82-65 loss at Washington. They shot 46.2% against Washington State.

“I think the players were embarrassed at the way we played against Washington, and they were determined that they were going to come back and prove something to themselves,” Raveling said after the Trojans won here for the first time in six games.

USC, 17-9 overall and 8-8 in the Pac-10, is tied for third with Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Oregon. The Trojans end their regular season with games against Washington and Washington State next week at the Sports Arena.

“The worst-case scenario (for making the NCAA tournament) was for us to split on this trip and win our last two games at home, which would make us 19-9 and leave us in third place,” Raveling said. “(If that’s the case), I think it would be hard for the (NCAA selection) committee to deny us.”

USC guard Harold Miner scored 22 points, 17 in the first half, and forward Ronnie Coleman had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Miner became the third Trojan to score 600 or more points in a season. He has scored 617 points in 26 games this season. John Block scored 654 points in 1966, and John Rudometkin scored 645 in 1961.

Although Miner made only three of 12 shots, including two three-point shots, he made 14 of 15 free throws as USC, the second-worst shooting free-throw team in the conference, hit 28 of 33. Guard Robert Pack added 18 points, making 10 of 11 free throws.

Leading, 46-38, at halftime, USC outscored Washington State, 12-0, at the start of the second half to build a 20-point lead with 14:49 remaining.

Miner was one of the keys to the Trojan defense, harassing point guard Tyrone Maxey.

“It was far and away Harold’s best defensive game of the year,” Raveling said. “If we could get Harold to play defense every game like he played today, we’d really be a much better basketball team.”

After the Cougars cut the deficit to 12 points with a 20-12 spurt, USC blitzed Washington State, 10-0, hitting 10 of 13 free throws, to take a 22-point lead with 1:50 remaining. Pack hit five of six free throws.

Assured of their first winning season since Raveling left Washington State in 1983, the Cougars (16-10, 8-8) hurt their chances of making the NCAA tournament by losing to UCLA and USC.

“We picked probably the most important weekend of the season to play our worst basketball of the season,” WSU Coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I feel badly for our fans. I almost feel like apologizing to them because of how we played in the two most important games of the season.”