Trojans undefeated at home, beat Washington State

In their first home game back from their three-game road trip, the Trojans went back to their winning ways by triumphing over the visiting Washington State Cougars 81-71 Thursday night in the Galen Center. Now 12-0 in front of the home crowd, this win marks its best start at home since USC’s 1943 campaign when they went 13-0.

The Trojans’ performance against the Cougars was not a statement game, but rather a reinstatement game after the Men of Troy dropped two straight to Oregon and Oregon State.

The Trojan offense was led by redshirt junior Katin Reinhardt who shot six for 12 from the field and 3 for 8 from beyond the arch to finish the night with 18 of the Trojans’ 81 points, putting him over 1,000 career points. Reinhardt’s 18 points were good enough to set a new career high for the guard.

Washington State came out of the starting blocks with standout play from their big man Ike Iroegbu who tallied eight of Washington State’s first 16 points, finishing the contest with 21 points, six assists and three rebounds on 46.7 percent shooting.

USC head coach Andy Enfield commented on the Cougars’ offensive efficiency and outstanding shooting percentage in comparison to his Trojans.

“I thought Washington State did a great job in the first half of making tough shots. A lot of times at the end of the shot clock, they made a lot of contested shots. Even though both teams were scoring a lot, I thought our defense was solid,” Enfield said.

A resurgent Nikola Jovanovic shot 6 for 10 from the field and ended the night with 12 points.

Despite great defense from the Trojans, the Cougars shot admirably from the floor, knocking down 25 of their 55 shots from the field.

The game was fairly tight throughout the majority of the first half, with the lead changing multiple times in the first half. Not to mention, the physicality of both teams could be felt in the first half with 22 combined fouls being called on both teams.

Eventually the Trojans grabbed the lead, thanks to their three-point shooting, as guards Elijah Stewart and Katin Reinhardt connected on four consecutive shots.

By the end of 20 minutes, USC held a 11-point lead on Washington State despite the Cougars’ 55.2 percent shooting overall.

Though USC featured seven players with six or more points and a 58.6 overall shooting percentage, they only completed 14 of their 22 first-half free-throw shots, missing eight potential points.

These mistakes were overshadowed, though, by their ball distribution and rebounding efforts. In the first half alone, Julian Jacobs contributed six of the Trojans’ 12 assists and the Men of Troy outrebounded the Cougars 13-12.

The beginning of the second half was more of the same for USC as the Trojans took their biggest lead eight minutes into the second half after a pair of free throws by Metu, which gave USC a 70-54 advantage.

The difference in the second half of play was a combination of USC’s shut-down defense and Washington State’s inconsistent shooting from the floor. To end the night, the Trojans totaled eight steals and forced 13 Washington State turnovers.

Not to mention, the Cougars shot just 36 percent in the final 20 minutes, with first-half performer Ike Iroegbu shooting one of three, scoring just five points while the rest of the squad scored just 25.

In terms of the Trojans’ offense, the second half saw an initial scoring flurry, with USC taking a 64-51 advantage on Jordan McLaughlin’s first field goal of the game, a 3-pointer.

With 12 minutes left, though, USC’s offense started to slump as Washington State went on a 10-1 run and brought the Trojans’ lead to just six points. The Cougars’ resurgence in the second half of play could be attributed to their 3-point shooting as well as some ill-timed Trojan turnovers.

Eventually, the Men of Troy’s scoring prowess returned as in the final four minutes, thanks to key buckets from McLaughlin and Metu.

By the end of the contest, the Trojans tallied five double-digit scorers with an overall field goal percentage of 46.6 percent.

Albeit unranked, the Trojans improve their record to 16-5 on the season with a 5-3 record in Pac-12 play. On the other hand, the Cougars were handed their sixth straight loss in Pac-12 play.

Katin Reinhardt commented on USC’s future moving forward after Thursday night’s win despite losing their national ranking.

“The whole preseason we worked our butts off trying to get that recognition we deserve. To see that ranking on the TV and that ranking next to our name meant a lot and we lost it,” Reinhardt said. “We know what type of basketball team we are. Today was a step in the right direction. Now we just got to keep pushing forward.”

USC’s next game will be at Galen Center this Saturday as the 16-5 Trojans take on the 14-6 Washington Huskies at noon.