It was another big night for junior Brock Motum.

With senior Faisal Aden out for the season, the Cougs looked to the big man for many of their offensive possessions as they topped USC 60-53.

The strategy paid of for WSU, as Motum led all scorers with 26 points on 9-11 to go along with eight rebounds.

 Head Coach Ken Bone had high praise for his starting center after the game.

“Very efficient, and he made most of his free throws,” Bone said. “Same old deal with him, he just continues to play good basketball.”

WSU (12-10, 4-6) used a 34-20 rebounding advantage to distance itself from last-place USC (6-17, 1-9). The Cougars employed a smaller lineup in the game, as they took advantage of the Trojans’ lack of depth and size.

Bone was happy with the rebounding mark and he is hopeful his team will keep it up when they host UCLA on Saturday.

 “We did a nice job on the boards and I’m glad we were able to do a good job on the boards,” Bone said. “UCLA is going to be a whole another situation. So hopefully we can carry it over to Saturday.”

 Junior Mike Ladd returned for WSU in his first action since Jan. 7. Ladd played a big role for the Cougs as he finished with six points and four rebounds in 24 minutes.

Ladd, who missed the last five games because of a torn thumb ligament, said he didn’t want to let his thumb affect him during the game.

 “I knew my team needed me — especially with Faisal going down,” Ladd said. “I just wanted to get out there and contribute to the rebounding and the defensive end as much as possible.”

The Cougs’ offense predominantly went through Motum early as the big man racked up 11 of WSU’s first 16 points. He finished the first half a perfect 5-5 from the floor for 14 points with 4 rebounds.

The Cougs’ held a 30-24 lead at the end of the first half as the Trojans shot 40 percent from the floor.

Only four players scored in first half for WSU as senior Abe Lodwick hit three three-pointers for nine points, Lacy had five and Reggie Moore scored two points on a buzzer-beater before half.  

WSU dominated the glass in the first half, as they out-rebounded the Trojans 18-10 in the first half.

Greg Allen led USC in the first half with eight points off the bench. The Trojans’ leading scorer Maurice Jones was held in check for much of the first half as the sophomore guard only had five points at the break.

The Cougs extended their lead to 41-31 with 15:34 remaining in the second half on a thunderous dunk by Motum. As he pump faked his defender, the Australian native stepped through the paint and threw down an emphatic left-handed dunk.

“Those dunks are few and far between for me,” Motum said. “When it happens, I get pretty excited and I guess it gave the team a little bit of a boost.”

USC cut the WSU lead to seven at 47-40 following a four minute scoring-drought by the Cougs.

Nonetheless, the Cougs would not be denied as they used their interior presence to find shots in the paint and push the game out of reach for the Trojans.

The Cougars limited USC to only three free throw attempts during the game. Bone was pleased with his team’s defensive performance following the game.

“We were able to play aggressive, we were alert,” Bone said. “I think we were pretty active and yet we weren’t just fouling, so I thought that area was really good.”