USC does enough, but it’s not as easy

This would have transcended what the NCAA tournament selection committee commonly refers to as “a bad loss.”

Less than a month after handing Oregon State the worst defeat in the 82-year history of the series, USC not only failed to put away the Beavers in the early going Thursday at the Galen Center but actually was tied with them early in the second half.

At that point the Trojans, who had defeated the Beavers by 45 points in Corvallis, were barely on pace to score that many in the rematch.

Then USC found its form and unleashed what seemed to be a season’s worth of highlights in the last 15 minutes en route to a 73-56 victory in front of 6,934.

There was a hanging one-handed flip-in from junior guard Gabe Pruitt, a four-point play by senior guard Lodrick Stewart and a reverse over-the-shoulder layup by freshman guard Daniel Hackett.

Soon a tie turned into a 24-point bulge for the Trojans, who improved to 17-6 overall and 7-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference and were able to insert their reserves in the final four minutes. The victory allowed them to tie their total from a season ago with at least nine games left.

The reserves had their moments too, with walk-on guard Ryan Wetherell making a scoop layup and sophomore forward RouSean Cromwell converting a three-point play.

“That was like a high school game, making those plays,” Stewart said.

Junior swingman Nick Young had 19 points and was one of five players to score in double figures for USC, which moved into a three-way tie with Oregon and Washington State for second place in the Pac-10. Beating Oregon State (9-14, 1-9) was close to a necessity for the Trojans considering the three-game stretch that looms against Oregon, UCLA and Arizona.

“We know that we’ve got a long way to go given that we finish with five of seven games on the road,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said. “A loss today would have been devastating.”

Trojans fans stirred restlessly when the Beavers pulled even after closing the first half and opening the second on a 14-1 run. Oregon State forward Marcel Jones banked in a short jumper to make the score 29-29 with 18:10 left, prompting Floyd to call a timeout.

“We looked over at coach and he had that look on his face like, ‘If ya’ll don’t start playing, we’re going to sub you out,’ ” Stewart said.

The Trojans then picked up their intensity on defense and improved their efficiency on offense, with freshman guard Dwight Lewis making a three-point basket from the corner, Stewart making a steal and layup and freshman forward Taj Gibson converting a nifty pass from Pruitt into a layup to open an 11-0 run that sent the Trojans back on their way.

Pruitt scored 10 points and had five assists despite suffering from a stomach ailment that forced him to return to the locker room late in the second half. Gibson finished one rebound short of a double-double after notching 10 points and nine rebounds.

Stewart, who had scorched the Beavers for a career-high 28 points while making nine of 10 shots during the Trojans’ 91-46 victory in Corvallis, had 12 points on five-for-11 shooting. Young scored 14 points in the first half, but Oregon State kept things close by going on an 8-1 run before intermission.

“I just thought that we had a couple of letdowns defensively and gave them a couple of easy baskets underneath,” Pruitt said. “Then we got back to what we were supposed to do.”

USC shot 59.4% from the field in the second half and contained every Beaver except center Kyle Jeffers, who had 15 points on seven-for-11 shooting for a team that shot only 41.4%.

“We’re doing what we need to do minus the fact we’re not hitting jumpers,” Oregon State Coach Jay John said. “Our margin of error is extremely small. When we have opportunities, we need to be able to capitalize.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com