Trojans Lose Shooting Touch Against Cougars

What happens to Washington State here doesn’t necessarily stay confined to the Cougars; it can also infect another team.

Less than 48 hours after Washington State put on one of the sorriest displays in its history, USC staged perhaps its most pathetic performance of the season Saturday at Friel Court during a 60-47 loss to the Cougars.

The Trojans made a season-low 27.6% of their shots, with Nick Young, Lodrick Stewart and Dwayne Shackleford combining for only 19.4% (seven of 36).

“I don’t even see how we would do that,” said Stewart, who made two of 10 shots. “We were all shooting real well in warmups. I know my shots felt like they were all good.”

Things became so unsightly late in the second half that injured USC guard Gabe Pruitt, watching from the bench in street clothes, covered his face with his hands. Young then had a shot blocked and, visibly frustrated, lingered in the backcourt instead of hustling back on defense.

“I felt like I got fouled a couple of times going to the hole, and I wasn’t getting no calls,” said Young, who scored 10 points after getting a career-high 32 against the Cougars on Jan. 14. “I shouldn’t have let it affect me like that, but I did and I just have to learn from it.”

Said Trojan Coach Tim Floyd: “We’ve got to become a more mature team.”

USC has lost three consecutive games for the first time this season to fall to 15-9 overall and 6-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Trojans remain in sixth place in the conference standings but have picked a bad time to go into a slump with games remaining against front-runners UCLA, Stanford and California.

What might have been most galling Saturday was that USC couldn’t pull away in the first half with Washington State mired in the shooting funk that had punctuated its 50-30 loss to UCLA on Thursday.

The Cougars (11-10, 4-8) missed their first six shots and fell behind, 10-2, and then 18-9, conjuring visions of their 27.5% shooting performance against the Bruins.

“That came into my head, like, ‘Oh, God, here we go,’ ” said Washington State guard Josh Akognon, who finished with a game-high 16 points after making only one of four shots in the first half.

The Trojans built their early leads with an inspired effort from a starting lineup that included former walk-on Greg Gaudino and Shackleford, a reserve guard. But the momentum didn’t last, largely because USC made only 26.1% of its first-half shots.

Washington State closed the first half on an 11-2 run to tie the score, 20-20. After shooting 27.6% in the first half, the Cougars made a sizzling 66.7% of their shots in the final 20 minutes. They pulled away with a 15-4 run after Ryan Francis’ three-pointer from the corner gave USC its final lead, 28-27, with 14:59 left.

“We had a great effort defensively and on the glass in the first half, maybe the best we’ve had in four or five games, and didn’t carry it over to the second half,” Floyd said. “They broke a little bit of our will with their poise, broke us down and took quality shots and shot for a better percentage in the second half as a result.”

Floyd attributed much of the Trojans’ struggles to Washington State’s defense, especially on Young. But a bigger stumbling block was a simple inability to make shots.

“My first shot was an airball; it felt good when I released it,” Stewart said. “Then my second shot was an airball by the rim and I’m like, ‘Oh, man.’ Right then I knew it might be one of those nights.”