Trojans Again Lay Groundwork for Frustrating Defeat

The scenario has become all too familiar for USC this season.

The Trojans come out flat, commit too many turnovers and don’t play nearly enough defense. They fall far behind, only to wake up with a furious rally in the last five minutes of the game.

It is a blueprint for defeat, more often than not, and it happened again Saturday night when USC lost to Washington State, 95-86, before a crowd of 4,687 at Friel Court.

“It’s pretty tough trying to come back every night,” guard Elias Ayuso said. “It gets real frustrating.”

So does losing six games in a row. That streak now leaves USC with a 10-8 record, 2-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference. And that lumps them with Oregon at the bottom of the standings.

“I don’t know what it is,” guard Brandon Granville said. “Guys just aren’t coming out ready to play, myself included.”

Against Washington State (9-11, 3-6), USC went 3 1/2 minutes before scoring its first point on a free throw. Nine minutes passed before the Trojans had scored in double figures.

“We’ve been struggling to get into the offense,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “We’re not getting play from the inside game. We’re relying too much on the perimeter shot.”

Things were going even worse on defense.

The Trojans knew aware Cougar forward Eddie Miller liked to drive to his right. Miller scored on two layups to his right in the first three minutes.

The Trojans knew Cougar guard Jan-Michael Thomas was the Pac-10’s most dangerous three-point shooter. Thomas made four three-pointers in the early going to stake his team to a 15-point lead.

“USC did some zoning on defense in the first half and I’m not sure that was in their favor,” Washington State Coach Kevin Eastman said. “Jan-Michael Thomas got some open looks.”

Only a coast-to-coast dunk by USC guard Jeff Trepagnier kept the score to a manageable 42-29 at halftime.

That pretty much erased the good feeling that had suffused the USC team the last few days. The Trojans had played well in a close loss at Washington on Thursday and the coaches hoped their young players were coming around. They hoped the team was finally getting the hang of its multiple defenses.

Instead, as Bibby explained, “We left some [momentum] back in Seattle, that’s for sure.”

Washington State pushed the lead to 20 points in the second half as Miller kept breaking free, scoring most of his 13 points close to the basket. Thomas and forward Chris Crosby kept making three-pointers, finishing with 21 and 16 points, respectively.

The more the Trojans pressed, the more mistakes they made. They finished with 12 assists but 21 turnovers. They gave up a slew of fastbreak points. And they quickly sank into foul trouble.

“We were being over-aggressive,” forward Greg Lakey said. “You try to come out and play hard and you get fouls. That can get you in the hole.”

Granville fouled out with 5:50 remaining. Center Brian Scalabrine and guard Adam Spanich followed soon after.

Give the Trojans this much credit: They did not give up. Trepagnier kept going to the basket, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Ayuso made a late three-pointer on his way to a game-high 22 points.

“Ayuso had a great game,” Eastman said. “He has the ability to miss some shots and keep on shooting till he makes some.”

USC shot a respectable 53% from the field and outrebounded Washington State, 30-29, but the Cougars made 33 of 39 foul shots, many of them late in the game.

So the Trojans were unable to re-create the big comebacks they made against Arizona State and Oregon earlier this season. Instead, as in recent games against Washington and UCLA, they fell short.

“We have to stop getting ourselves in that hole,” Lakey said. “That makes it real hard on us.”