Wilkinson crashes party

Yes, that really was Keith Wilkinson crashing through the lane late in the second half Saturday against Washington State to grab a wayward shot off the rim and dunk it back in for two critical points.

And it really was Wilkinson spotting up in the second overtime for a three-point shot that gave USC a two-point lead during its eventual 88-86 loss to the Cougars.

If you had to rub your eyes or double-check the jersey number to make sure this was the same sophomore forward who had mostly been a passive facilitator on offense, you weren’t alone.

“Everyone was surprised. Very shocked,” USC junior swingman Nick Young said of Wilkinson’s dunk. “I didn’t see him do that in practice yet.”

Wilkinson has scored 14 points (on six-for-10 shooting) in his last two games, including a career-high nine at Washington on Thursday. He attributed the surge in production to opponents’ double-teaming freshman forward Taj Gibson, setting Wilkinson up for open looks.

But what about the dunk?

“This summer I got a lot of those in the L.A. City pro leagues just because no one plays defense, but usually in college people box out so it’s a little bit different,” said Wilkinson, who still averages only 1.7 points. “That one just came off right to me.”

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Even though he was under the mistaken impression that no Pacific 10 Conference team that had finished with an 11-7 conference record had been denied a berth in the NCAA tournament, Coach Tim Floyd said he was not worried that the Trojans might be left out on Selection Sunday, even if they were to lose to Stanford on Thursday in the conference tournament.

“I believe we’re in the [NCAA] tournament, but we’ll find out,” he said Monday after being informed that 15 of the 19 conference teams that finished 11-7 had received invitations to the NCAA tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

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Young was selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. All-District IX team for a second consecutive year.

ben.bolch@latimes.com