For USC, Charity Begins on the Road : College basketball: Trojans start slowly, offer turnovers and uncontested shots and make it easy for Washington State to win, 84-64.

Washington State’s second-half offense was more like a layup-and-dunk drill, thanks to some charitable defense from USC. The Cougars shot 72.4% in the second half in an 84-64 rout of the Trojans before 6,733 Thursday night at Friel Court.

USC dropped to 7-13 overall and 2-8 in the Pacific 10, stretching its losing streak to six games. Washington State (11-7, 5-4) is 10-0 at home.

“We just wanted open things up and start being unselfish in the second half,” said Cougar point guard Donminic Ellison, who had 11 of his game-high 13 assists in the second half. “We had to start creating things for others, and that meant moving the ball around more.”

Getting easy shots was easy against the Trojans’ porous defense. Isaac Fontaine led Washington State with 20 points, but the open inside baskets by Tavares Mack and Mark Hendrickson did USC in.

Mack, who had averaged only seven points a game, finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Hendrickson had 18 points and four rebounds.

“It’s easy to score when you just open the door and let people drive right in for layups,” USC Coach Charlie Parker said. “I’m terribly disappointed in how many easy baskets we gave up.”

USC’s defense was below par, and the Trojan offense was just as bad. For the sixth consecutive game, USC shot below 50%. The Trojans made 26 of 61 shots for 42.6% and committed 20 turnovers against only eight assists.

“Having stats like that just shows that we’re not playing too well together,” Parker said. “We just have to hit our shots and take better care of the ball just for us to have a chance.”

USC spotted Washington State a 14-point lead six minutes into the first half.

“We started the game not ready to play,” said Parker, who kept the locker-room door closed for more than 20 minutes after the game. “One of our goals was to not let the crowd get into the game, but that is exactly what we did. Then we let them take us out of the game.”

USC, which defeated the Cougars in Los Angeles last month, made two runs to close to within six points in the first half and seven in the second. Washington State was able to respond each time.

“We were able to establish a tempo early, and we got after them in our pressure (defense),” Washington State Coach Kevin Eastman said. “That got everybody involved--all of the players, the crowd and the bench.”

Sophomore Jaha Wilson led USC with his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Lorenzo Orr added 13 points and six rebounds, and Brandon Martin returned to the starting lineup to finish with 11 points.

“Without question, our effort was not there,” Parker said. “I tried to play a lot of guys. I tried every combination and everyone had ample opportunity to step up. We just didn’t have enough guys rise to the occasion.”