The tables have turned for the WSU men’s basketball team.

The Cougars (9-10, 1-6) were projected as favorites over USC (15-5, 4-3) the first time the two teams faced off in Pullman on Jan. 1. However, the Trojans rolled over the Cougars in a 13-point win and have been the biggest surprise of the Pac-12 conference thus far.

As the two teams face off for the second time this season in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, the Trojans are 14.5 point favorites over WSU. The Cougars are seeking revenge this time around.

“They’re showing everybody in the conference that they’re a formidable opponent and so we need to come in to them,” WSU junior forward Conor Clifford said. “Now that people are starting to think they’ll be able to roll over us so we need to come up and punch them in the mouth and get up on them.”

USC cruised to an easy victory over WSU in the first meeting because the Trojans played at a high pace the entire game that the Cougars could not match.

Rarely do the Cougars get outrun by their opponents, but in this case WSU just did not bring enough energy in their loss to the Trojans.

“They’re a team that’s much like us, they like to get up and down,” WSU junior forward Junior Longrus said. “We want to stop their transition and get ours going and that’s what we’re going to go in there and do.”

The Trojans have five players who are averaging double figures in scoring so far this season. The team’s leading scorer is sophomore guard Jordan McLaughlin with 12.6 points.

Currently, sophomore guard Elijah Stewart is USC’s hottest player after scoring 113 total points in the Trojan’s last eight games. The Trojans are known for their explosive offense under third-year head coach Andy Endfield. USC is averaging 83.7 points a game this season which ranks No. 14 in the country.

“I think for a team with some many new guys the second time around should be much better basketball with anybody we play because now you know what to expect personnel wise, you see how hard teams play, you see how good they are,” WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond against an SC team that we did not play very well against when they came here to play.”

If the Cougars are to knock off the Trojans in LA, not only will WSU have to match the tempo of the game, but step it up on the defensive end.

The Cougars have had their struggles on defense during the early part of conference play, but Kent might have found the answer by starting a veteran lineup in the game.

Kent said by starting a veteran lineup leads to better communication on the floor which helps defensively.

“I thought that veteran group really gives those guys coming off the bench an opportunity to see how hard they need to play, hear the communication on defense,” Kent added. “I thought it worked extremely well for us (against Colorado).”

Kent also mentioned WSU redshirt junior center Valentine Izundu is back practicing with the team. Izundu has missed WSU’s last five games due to a foot injury.

Tip-off between WSU and USC is set for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in Los Angeles, followed by a game at UCLA at 4 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.