No. 19 Washington State triumphs over adversity, USC, 75-72

An incredible effort from a Cougar team that trailed for all but 2:22.

A wise man once said: “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

For all but 2:22, the USC Trojans held a lead over the No. 19 Washington State Cougars and looked to be on their way of spoiling the 8,288 that welcomed WSU (22-7, 13-5 in Pac-12) back to Pullman. Instead, the Cougars overcame a 12-point deficit behind a heroic effort from freshman Isaiah Watts and clutch shooting down the stretch to rally from a brutal first half, winning 75-72.

It wasn’t pretty for WSU by any means, but they found a way to win like teams who play well into March do. A first half chalked full of turnovers and defensive miscues was erased entirely by a second half filled with timely shooting and defensive stops when they needed them most. USC (11-17, 5-12) gave WSU everything they had, outscoring the Cougs in the paint by more than double and snatching eight steals in the first half alone, but it still wasn’t enough for a WSU team that continues to defy all expectations.

With WSU riding high off their recent trip to Arizona, Coug fans packed Beasley Coliseum to bring the sort of energy it had been severely missing for years. Despite this large crowd all behind them, the Cougs came out looking more nervous than fired up to begin the game. The Trojans own one of the worst two-point shot percentages in conference play, but were still able to score at will inside against a WSU interior defense that had stifled the likes of the more elite conference interior scorers like Arizona and Colorado.

USC’s physicality was put on display on both ends of the court as despite owning one of the worst defenses in the Pac-12, the Trojans forced WSU into some uncharacteristic mistakes. Double-teams in the post forced sloppy turnovers and bad shots around the rim while the perimeter defense kept WSU’s marksmen in check with strong closeouts and clogging the passing lanes for easy steals.

As the Trojan lead began to build, the restlessness put even more pressure on the Cougars who’s desperation to settle themselves into a groove created even more sloppy turnovers, defensive breakdowns. It all eventually culminated in a 10-0 kill shot run from the Trojans to take a commanding 11 point lead.

WSU’s stars couldn’t even breakthrough as both Isaac Jones and Myles Rice combined for six of WSU’s nine first half turnovers. Without their stars playing well, Kyle Smith needed one of his bench players to break out. He got his wish in the form of Isaiah Watts. During Wazzu’s eight game win streak, Watts scored a combined 14 points in those games and played less than a minute during WSU’s upset of Arizona. Needing a spark, Watt’s delivered with a trio of treys throughout the half to help WSU stay in it.

The freshman’s breakout first half helped lead a final minute charge to breath some life into a Beasley crowd that began to be clouded in a shadow of doubt. Andrej Jakimovski followed Watts’ third trey with one of his own and Rice coasted inside for a final second layup to polish off an 8-0 WSU run to cut the halftime deficit to four. Momentum.

Just like in their last game against Arizona State, WSU bled their run to end the first half into the opening of the second half for a kill shot 10-0 run.

Though the offense looked much more poised than it did in the first half, it still couldn’t deal that haymaker on USC to take the lead. The Trojans were quick to answer each WSU bucket to keep the Beasley crowd at a simmer. WSU was able to break within three at multiple points, but USC wouldn’t break. Former Coug, DJ Rodman, helped make sure USC kept the lead they had held the entire game with a trey to make it a six point game and capped a 6-0 USC run with a free throw to push the lead to nine.

With USC holding their largest lead of the second half thus far, it was time for Watts to put on his cape he donned in the first half and be WSU’s hero again. Unphased by the moment, the freshman knocked down a jumper and his fourth trey of the night to keep WSU within double-digits. Jakimovski, who scored eight in the first half, took the torch from Watts again with a jumper and followed it up with a long trey to get the Beasley crowd on its feet.

Rice tied the game up for the first time since it was all zeros with a pair of free throws on the next WSU possession. Despite getting in to striking distance, WSU could not find that one shot they needed to grab the lead, even when they were at the free throw line, down one, shooting two shots. Now with under six minutes left, Isaiah Collier went back to his first half recipe for success, bullying Rice to the paint for a bucket. On back-to-back possessions, Collier did just that to put USC back up two possessions.

Again, doubt filled the air in Beasley after a shot clock violation gave the ball back to USC with a chance to make it a three possession game with under four minutes to play. Even though this team has proved to be up to any challenge thrown at them all season long, did they still have enough magic to send this packed Beasley Coliseum home happy?

On their potential dagger possession, USC turned the ball over and Rice turned it into a bucket to slice the lead in half. Collier tried again to attack the paint, but was met with a strong resistance from the WSU post to force a much tougher shot than Collier had been getting. The USC miss set the stage for WSU’s freshman hero to continue his brilliance. Rice dished the one arm pass to Watts for the off balance three-pointer through tough defense that he drilled to give WSU their first lead of the game.

Joshua Morgan answered with a quick dunk inside to return the lead back to USC, setting up yet another crucial possession.

Yet to be named in this recap so far is Jaylen Wells, the player who broke out into a superstar during WSU’s win streak. It was evident that USC wanted to do whatever they could to prevent him from finding his shots from outside, running him off the line and only allowing him to shoot one three — that he missed — in the first half. But, with the game in the balance, Wells broke through for a short jumper to retake the lead. After a badpass turnover gave the ball back to WSU, they went right back to him. Like the Beasley crowd, Wells was just waiting for his time to explode. Wells, and Beasley, got their wish with a ground shaking three to give WSU their largest lead of the game at four.

Collier and Wells both exchanged free throws to set up the final 35 seconds of play with USC trailing by four. Coming out of a Trojan timeout, an off-ball foul from Jakimovski sent Collier back to the line. The roaring Beasley crowd helped force the first attempt miss, but Collier was still able to cash the second to make it a one possession game.

WSU got their best guy to the line in Wells — shooting over 80% from the free throw line — to put this one on ice. Instead, the basketball gods had other plans as Wells missed both free throws.

Now with 23 ticks remaining, USC had a chance to send this game to overtime. The Trojans found Boogie Ellis, who had killed WSU before in big moments, for a game-tying three attempt. This time, Ellis couldn’t be WSU’s boogeyman, missing his three. The fight for the rebound was on and won by the Trojans and kicked out to an open Kobe Johnson. His three-pointer missed and the ball dribbled innocently into an unoccupied corner to wind down the remaining milliseconds and secure an improbable WSU comeback victory.

We have sat on our couches for the past decade plus watching teams like the one Kyle Smith has put together and saying “This is what good teams do. This is why they will be playing in March.” Even when they are playing far from their best game, they just will themselves to victories. Overcoming uncharacteristic errors, finding unlikely heroes and having their stars find their groove when it gets into crunch time. And best of all, they got to do in front of a crowd that had been waiting years for a chance to pack an arena that can be one of the hardest places in the country.

This team continues to prove everybody wrong. They are playing in their own stratosphere, where expectations, historic trends and limits cease to exist. Forging their own path forward with a cast of heroes that all arrived in Pullman from their own stories that all told them one way or another, what they are achieving couldn’t be done. Guys who all thrive on playing under everybody’s radar and hunger for the right to prove you wrong. All molded by being an underdog and taking the road less traveled to get to where they are today, in second place in the Pac-12 and counting down the weeks until they get to do what no team has done at Washington State in over a decade.

The Beasley Coliseum party rolls on into Saturday when the Cougars welcome in the UCLA Bruins at 4PM.