A war was waged against the men of Troy Thursday night, but the Cougars proved less effective than a wooden horse as the Washington State men’s basketball team could only compete with the Trojans for one half at the Galen Center.

The Cougars (9-11, 1-7 Pac-12) played the Trojans (16-5, 5-3) tough for the first 17 minutes, but some big runs and huge momentum swings propelled USC to the 81-71 victory.

An alley-oop finished by USC’s talented freshman forward Chimezie Metu – his second big dunk of the first half – signaled the beginning of the end for the Cougars, as it put the Trojans up 45-39 with 2:37 to go before the half, they’re biggest lead at the time, and propelled them to a 52-41 halftime lead.

“The difference in the game was the last three, three-and-a-half minutes of the first half,” WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent said in the postgame news conference. “We turned it over. We missed some rotations. They made us pay, got the 11 point lead and there was the difference.”

Until that point, the first half seemed a tug-of-war between two sides unwilling to yield. Through the first 16 minutes, the Cougs and Trojans tied 12 times and the lead changed hands 14 times. But a 14-3 run in the last 4:02 of the half, started by a three-pointer by USC sophomore guard Elijah Stewart, gave the Trojans all the momentum they needed to roll to their fifth win of the Pac-12 season.

The Cougars didn’t go away quietly in the second half, at one point working the score to 70-64 with 6:08 to play, but a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jordan McGlaughlin to end a 10-0 run by the Cougars, and then another dunk by Metu on the Trojans’ next possession stopped what would end up being WSU’s last shot at a victory.

Metu was the second leading scorer and rebounder for the Trojans with 12 points and six boards, and the four dunks he threw down all felt like daggers when the Cougars were trying to build momentum. Metu has now dunked 36 times this season, according to The Associated Press, and the freshman’s play has electrified growing Galen Center crowds throughout USC’s impressive run through the Pac-12.

“We feel our team is fun to watch,” Trojan Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “Hopefully we’ll continue to get good crowds and keep this up at home.”

Meanwhile, WSU junior guard Ike Iroegbu put together another outstanding performance in a Cougar loss, posting a game-high 21 points to follow up his 27 against Colorado on Saturday. Junior forward Josh Hawkinson picked up his Pac-12 leading 15th double-double of the season by dropping 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Trojans.

The Cougars have now lost six straight games, which Kent addressed by citing the success of 2016’s premier Pac-12 teams like USC, California and Washington, and reminded the press how much those teams were struggling a year ago.

“It’s about getting better, and we know where we’re going,” Kent said. “You’ve got to keep the big picture in mind. It isn’t about keeping them up for the next game. It’s keeping them getting better for what lies ahead.”

And the Cougars are close to playing at the level of some of the most talented teams in the conference. With the exception of their games against Utah and Arizona, the Cougs have, at some point, looked competitive in all of their Pac-12 games this season.

“We’ve just got to get over the hump,” Iroegbu said after the game.

Yet the Cougars have only one conference win to show for their efforts, and sit alone in the cellar of the Pac-12 as a result.

The Cougars will wrap up their SoCal road trip Saturday when they visit the UCLA Bruins. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.