Sluggish Trojans Finally Hop Over Kangaroos : College basketball: USC has trouble putting away winless Missouri Kansas City, 82-74.

An expected blowout victory can sometimes turn into an upset loss.

That’s what USC fought from happening for most of Tuesday night before defeating winless Missouri Kansas City, 82-74, in front of 2,106 at the Sports Arena.

The Trojans, who improved to 4-4, needed Burt Harris’ 21 points, Brandon Martin’s 18 and Jaha Wilson’s 16 and 11 rebounds to hold off the pesky Kangaroos.

“It was an ugly win but it was a win,” USC Coach Charlie Parker said. “I think that we needed a wake-up call and they provided one for us. I really think that we took them too lightly.”

How bad was UMKC (0-6) going into the game?

In losing their first five games this season, the average defeat for the Kangaroos was 21 points, including a 32-point loss at Kansas State and a 27-point loss at Saint Louis.

UMKC did not have a starter taller than 6 feet 6 and its reserves had scored only 34 points going into Tuesday night’s game.

That did not stop UMKC from giving the Trojans a scare.

From the opening tipoff, the Kangaroos played like a team determined to get its first victory of the season, while the Trojans played like a team that had just finished the final day of final exams and was looking ahead to next week’s Seton Hall tournament.

“But that really isn’t a good excuse for how we played,” said Martin, who made six of 11 shots and also had four assists. “It’s just that things that we work on and execute in practice, sometimes don’t go well in games.

“Our defense was horrible. We can’t play like this against a team like UCLA or Arizona.”

After a nine-day layoff since their two-game trip to Texas, the Trojans did shoot well from the field. All five starters scored in double figures as USC made 32 of 59 shots (54.2%).

The Trojans’ biggest problem was that they allowed UMKC to gain confidence as the game went on behind Chris Johnson (20 points and nine rebounds), Darecko Rawlins (19 and eight) and Curtis Barnes (19 points).

What also kept the Kangaroos close was their offensive rebounding edge, 14-10, and 17 turnovers by USC.

“We were trying everything, but we couldn’t stop them with anything,” Parker said.

“We tried to outrebound them, especially offensive rebounds, but we didn’t do that. That made it closer.”

Freshman Cameron Murray scored 10 points, including three three-point baskets, and tied a career high with nine assists.