Trojans slip and fall by 24

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Getting here was the easy part.

After an uneventful morning drive from Spokane, USC ran aground Saturday afternoon at Friel Court against a team that proved as perilous as an icy road.

Showing the kind of veteran poise that still occasionally eludes the Trojans, Washington State ran away with a 74-50 victory that might have made USC Coach Tim Floyd wish his team had been marooned back at the hotel.

There was a disjointed first half in which the Trojans scored a season-low 19 points. There was a failure to execute a simple inbounds play early in the second half.

And, in the final indignity, there were two technical fouls on Floyd that resulted in his ejection after he disputed a non-call on USC freshman O.J. Mayo.

It all culminated in the most lopsided loss of the season for the Trojans, who fell to 15-8 overall and 6-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference.

“It wasn’t one of our finer evenings,” said Floyd, still seeking his first victory at Friel Court in his third season at USC.

Washington State (18-5, 6-5) unleashed a stifling defensive effort to end a three-game losing streak, using a variety of double teams to hold sophomore forward Taj Gibson to a season-low two points.

Mayo needed 15 shots to score 14 points because seemingly everywhere he looked were the smothering hands and arms of Cougars guard Kyle Weaver.

Weaver made all eight of his shots and finished with 17 points for the Cougars, who shot 59.6% to USC’s 45.7% in becoming the first Pac-10 team to outshoot the Trojans.

“Coming into this game, we knew they were going to be very intense, ready to play due to three straight losses at home,” Mayo said. “We kind of came into an ambush and we played hard, we just didn’t get the job done.”

Cougars fans showered Mayo with a chant of “O.J.’s guilty!” after he protested a foul call early in the second half and then again when he picked up his fourth foul with 8:59 left.

Mayo raised his arms in disbelief several minutes later when he thought he was shoved on a foray into the lane and lost the ball.

After Weaver converted the turnover into a breakaway dunk, Floyd stormed to the opposite end of the court in protest, drawing two quick technical fouls in succession.

Floyd spent the remainder of the game in the locker room, with assistant Phil Johnson taking over the coaching duties.

“I watched the replay, and ya’ll can go listen to the replay broadcast because I can’t speak to the officiating,” Floyd said. “I can’t talk about it. I’d like to coach our next game.”

Mayo said he was trying to attack the rim and draw a foul to get to the free-throw line, “and we didn’t get very many fouls called.”

Even with all its problems, USC trimmed what had been a 12-point deficit to six early in the second half when Mayo split two defenders and made a short pull-up jumper.

But Washington State forward Daven Harmeling found center Aron Baynes open inside for a dunk and on the following inbounds pass, miscommunication on the part of the Trojans resulted in a turnover that led to a Derrick Low three-pointer and a 36-25 lead for the Cougars, who weren’t threatened again.

USC was not at full strength even though it benefited from the return of freshman forward Davon Jefferson, who had 13 points after sitting out the first game against Washington State because of undisclosed disciplinary reasons.

Sophomore guard Daniel Hackett, still recovering from a bruised right pelvis suffered last week and a sprained ankle sustained Thursday, said he couldn’t even warm up because his back spasms were so intense.

“I wasn’t physically able to play tonight and it showed,” said Hackett, who had two points in 24 minutes. “I couldn’t really move.”

The Trojans had been worried about merely getting to Pullman after the remnants of a winter storm had closed roads throughout the region Friday.

But after making arrangements to charter a plane from Spokane, the Trojans decided to drive instead when the highways reopened.

The game proved to be the only detour.

ben.bolch@latimes.com