The difference in the performance of Washington State last night versus their last three games is that Saturday they earned the “W”—big time.
By the time Friel Court was emptying out into the wintry late afternoon, the Cougs had completed a conference sweep of USC for the second consecutive year.
Final score: WSU 74, USC 50.
Once again, WSU was all about teamwork, pressure defense and picking apart the few weak spots of their PAC-10 opponent.
OJ Mayo and company were off to a nice enough start, leading 7-4 going into the first TV timeout. Coach Tim Floyd was feeling good and exhorting his players as they confidently strutted to the sidelines surrounded by emotionally charged Cougar fans. The Zzu Cru.
If you were to judge how the game was beginning from the crowd noise, you’d swear the Cougs were up by at least a dozen rather than trailing by a three-pointer. And if you were going to judge how things were going by scanning the game faces of the Washington State players, you wouldn’t have a clue. Typical Cougs. Play to the best of your ability and be satisfied with that.
Coming out of the time out, the Trojans exhibited plenty of swagger strolling back to the court. Though mind reading isn’t a personal talent, USC players appeared to believe this game was going the same route as Thursday night in Seattle. Wrong.
The first clue should have been the three feet of snow on the ground. The second clue should have been the distant memory of the second conference game—a loss to this gangly group from Pullman. After all, there aren’t any five-star prospects on the Washington State roster. The Huskies had a few highly touted recruits and they fell like snow in the Palouse.
The Cougar defense frustrated and shut down USC the rest of the first half. Trailing 29-19 at the break, the Trojans shot just 36 percent from the field. From there, things went from bad to worse for USC.
About midway through the second half, it was crystal clear that the Cougs were not about to let the Trojans crawl back into the game. Then things got weird. Mayo tried to split a couple of Cougar defenders and drive the lane. In the process, he tangled feet and went sprawling at the foul line. On the way down, he lost control of the ball and WSU was an outlet pass away from the easy two.
Coach Floyd raced onto the court before the Trojans could inbound the ball. As he excitedly reached the official at that end of the floor, expletives were flying. Fortunately for young television viewers, the roar of the Zzu Cru drowned out whatever point Floyd was trying to make. The official compassionately tried to escort the outraged coach back to his bench.
The rant continued. Mayo attempted to get between his freaked out coach and the official. What? Isn’t that a bit backwards?
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