Ayuso Fares Well for Trojans as They Keep NIT Hopes Alive

With time running out on what figured to be his last home game as a USC basketball player, Elias Ayuso found himself becoming a touch sentimental.

“It’s kind of sad it came this fast,” Ayuso said. “But you can’t be in college forever.”

So the senior guard made the most of the time he had left, scoring 15 second-half points to help the Trojans finish their home schedule with an 83-62 victory over Washington State at the Sports Arena on Saturday.

Ayuso’s farewell tour began and ended with simple layups. In between, he made a trio of three-point baskets that broke the game open as USC went on a 20-2 run.

“When he came out and hit those shots, it kind of broke their backs,” center Brian Scalabrine said. “That gave us a lot of momentum.”

Momentum is key for the Trojans these days. Left for dead a few weeks ago, they have won three of four games and have put together consecutive Pacific 10 Conference victories for the first time this season.

At 14-11, 6-10 in conference play, they are also guaranteed a winning season and are making a last-second push for the National Invitation Tournament.

“We have to play uptempo, play defense,” forward Greg Lakey said. “Then we have a good chance to do what we need to do.”

They need to do it on the road, playing at Arizona and Arizona State in the final weekend. Even two victories won’t guarantee them a spot. But first, they had to get past the last-place Cougars (10-18, 4-13), which wasn’t as easy as the score suggests.

The Trojans gave up too many uncontested points in the early minutes and ended up trading baskets for a 42-39 halftime lead. Coach Henry Bibby told them what he thought about that in the locker room.

“You don’t want to know,” Bibby said.

His players got the message, coming out with a defensive intensity that has marked their recent improvement.

Lakey and freshman Sam Clancy combined for six blocks while Ayuso chipped in six steals. The newly inspired defense held Washington State to 10 points over a 15-minute span.

“They have some motivation in that they are fighting for an NIT berth,” Washington State Coach Kevin Eastman said. “They played under control while we were forcing things.”

The Cougars were helped by center Eddie Miller’s 15 points, but no one else scored in double figures and guard Jan-Michael Thomas, who had 21 points against USC in Pullman last month, finished with six.

The USC offense, meanwhile, was jump-started by Washington State’s 22 turnovers. The Trojans got plenty of layups and, even when forced to slow things down, found Scalabrine inside for a game-high 20 points.

“Everything we did worked,” Bibby said.

All that remained was a final bow from Ayuso, who finished with 18 points and moved into second place among the school’s all-time three-point shooters.

For his efforts, he received a standing ovation from the 3,094 in attendance. True, not many people come to USC games, but that made Ayuso feel as if he knew each and every one of them personally.

“The people who stuck with us no matter the good games or the bad games,” he said. “I wanted to do well in front of the home crowd.”