Trojans experience defensive letdown against Washington State

Defense is USC’s bread and butter, its faithful standby.

If shots aren’t falling, if calls go against them, if the hardwood cracks in two and a chasm appears, suspending play indefinitely -- it’s cool, no worries, don’t sweat it.

The Trojans can still rely on their rock-solid defense, which is built on players being aggressive, knowing if they get beat, a teammate has their back.

But against Washington State on Thursday, that defense, which was ranked first nationally in scoring defense (54.7), collapsed in the second half with USC holding a 15-point lead.

USC Coach Kevin O’Neill said it was “very uncharacteristic” of his team, but after going over the film, he diagnosed the problem.

“We got selfish defensively,” he said. “We started hugging our man [and] worrying about our man instead of worrying about our team defense like we normally do. We started playing guys in the old UNLV-type man-to-man, just-get-in-his-face-and-take-him-on. We’re not that kind of team.”

That selfishness showed as Cougars freshman guard Reggie Moore sliced through USC’s defense and often made it to the rim, either scoring or getting fouled. Moore finished with a game-high 21 points in the Cougars’ 67-60 win, and O’Neill said he was the difference.

USC’s short bench is short, though, meaning, the options on defense are limited.

“Marcus Simmons is a guy I’d like to have out there on every defensive possession, but I need Mike Gerrity on offense,” O’Neill said. “I’d like to be able to combine a couple of players, but that’s who we are.”

Washington’s road worries

You’d think Washington would have felt at home in Los Angeles, what with the constant rain and all. But after their buzzer-beating loss to UCLA, the Huskies have lost all four of their road games this season, as well as a neutral site game in Anaheim against Georgetown.

“I would think, in their minds, that’s a monkey they have to get off their back,” O’Neill said.

Because the Huskies were close to doing that against UCLA but failed, ultimately, Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said his squad can either come out flat or fired up against USC.

“You can go one way or the other,” Romar said. “I think we’ll bounce back.”

By the same token, Washington forward Quincy Pondexter said the Trojans’ postseason ban makes them fearless.

“They’re going to come out and fight because at the end of the day, they really don’t have anything to lose,” Pondexter said.

Speaking of Pondexter, O’Neill gushed about the Washington forward who averages 20.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, calling him “the best player in the league.”

Gerrity’s struggles continue

After averaging 14.8 points in his first four games and being considered a savior from the basketball gods, Gerrity has all but disappeared from the box scores since Pacific 10 Conference play began.

He has averaged 5.5 points in his last six games, half of those USC losses.

Gerrity had an advantage before, though. The two-time transfer (Pepperdine and Charlotte) hadn’t played in two years, so any film of him would be old and hard to find.

O’Neill said that’s not the case anymore. “When you get in league play, everybody has seen and scouted so much, that every little wart you have becomes a big wart,” he said.

Currently, Gerrity’s wart is shooting. Teams are backing off and testing his perimeter skills, but he’s shooting only 25% from the field (nine of 36) in his last six games.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com