No. 19 WSU men’s basketball (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) narrowly beat USC (11-17, 5-12 Pac-12), taking their first lead with less than a minute left. After losing to a mediocre Arizona State team on Saturday, the Cougs prevented another potential trap game from getting them.

DJ Rodman is the storyline that has been and will continue to be done to death. The former Coug transferred to USC last year after previously announcing his return, saying he wanted to leave a “rebuilding program” and “spend [his] last year and win”. He was booed when he took the floor and again every time he subbed back into the game.

Despite the jeering, he managed eight points on 75% shooting, splitting a pair of 3-pointers and tying with four other players for a game-high five rebounds. It was a solid game all around, but not a serious factor in the Cougar win or the Trojan loss.

What was a serious factor, however, was the crowd. 8,288 were in attendance, the most since Klay Thompson was in town for his jersey retirement in 2020. The ranked Cougs returned home from Arizona to a full lower bowl and substantial upper deck, a far cry from the early season games when the only people in the upper deck were sitting in the media row.

Despite the most support they have had since before the pandemic, the Cougs started this game with a whimper. The offense was struggling and the defense was hardly better, and the Cougs found themselves down by 12 with 95 seconds left in the first half.

A miraculous 1:30 saw the Cougs hit two 3-pointers and a layup, all unanswered, to bring the game within four at the half. It seemed for a moment like they would get the lead and slam the door on a USC team that was far overperforming.

Isaiah Watts led the Cougs at halftime with 9 points, making all of his three attempts from outside. After seeing an uptick in minutes lately, he was finally capitalizing. Andrej Jakimovski made a pair of 3-pointers as well. Those two were the only bright spots of the period.

Myles Rice and Isaac Jones combined for six turnovers in the half, making up the lion’s share of WSU’s nine turnovers. Jones, who was later revealed to be under the weather with some sort of illness, looked weaker than he had all year. He was getting the ball knocked out of his hands in the paint and could not seem to get it above his head to score. USC is not an incredible defensive team but Rodman was locking Jones up with those same precise jabs that used to steal the ball for the Cougs.

The second half began similarly. USC did not grow their lead significantly for the first six minutes, and the Cougs seemed to be within striking range. A Rodman 3-pointer pushed the lead up to eight with thirteen minutes left, and things started to get scary for the many fans in attendance. 

The next ten minutes saw the Cougs fight back, getting it within three and then two and then briefly even tying the game. USC stood strong, refusing to give up a lead until there was only 2:35 left on the clock.

Watts was having the game of his career so far, having hit a fourth 3-pointer earlier in the quarter. More than just the bench spark he was billed to be, Watts was lighting the whole arena.

Who else could be the one to take the shot with 2:35 left? 

“The way it hit my hands, this is no cocky confidence, it was just so perfect. It had to go up,” Watts said. “I just knew I had to shoot it.”

Rice found him sliding out of the right corner, collapsing the defense enough to give Watts just a momentary open look at the basket. With more than 8,000 people standing up behind him and a defender right in his face, he sunk it.

USC took the lead again quickly, but they were caught unprepared for a Jaylen Wells floater early in the shot clock to take the lead back. Wells, who starred last week against Arizona, was having a quiet game by his standards. He had missed his only 3-point try and had only 6  points, but the floater put him at 8 with more to come.

Watts shocked the Trojans again when he intercepted a bad cross-court pass, and the Cougs had the ball with the lead. The ball made it to Rice, who stood far from the arc watching the defense. USC had an extreme defensive lapse when they left Wells wide open from the left wing. If there is such thing as “his spot” that is it, and he made it to give the Cougs a four-point lead.

It was free throws from there. USC took a pair of 3-pointers in the final possession, the first being offensively rebounded back to an open shooter who missed it again.

The final score was 75-72. Watts and Jakimovski led the Cougs with 18 points each. Despite struggling in the first, Rice managed a decent game by the end. He was third on the team with 16 points and he also dished out eight assists. Wells finished the game with 13 including his huge last two minutes.

This game was a lesson: anyone can beat you. USC is the much worse team on paper, but the Cougs started out playing disconnected basketball. Jones’ illness certainly explains his issues, which were at the core of the team’s issues, but that is not everything.

Turnovers and bad isolation attempts sunk them for much of the game, and it was only when Rice took it upon himself to find the open shooters that they started to keep pace and eventually pass the Trojans.

This kind of game, while scary, is a good experience for a team that is looking to make a run in March Madness. As a potential five seed, they will be playing a theoretically inferior opponent. They cannot afford to play down to their competition there.

Next up for the Cougs is another tough game against UCLA. UCLA has a nearly identical record to Arizona State, .500 overall, but they are above .500 in the conference. The last few weeks have seen the Bruins collapse a bit, and they will be looking for a get-right game in Pullman on Saturday.

The Cougs will try to keep the Bruins wrong when the game tips off at  4 p.m. Saturday. Fans can watch on Pac-12 Network.