USC survived a scare from Washington State, but ultimately hung on to win by 10
LOS ANGELES — USC survived a scare from Washington State, but ultimately hung on to win 80-70. With the Trojans clinging to a 71-68 lead with 1:20 left, Vince Iwuchukwu blocked a three-pointer to force a Washington State shot clock violation. On USC’s next possession, Drew Peterson hit a step back three-pointer from the right baseline to give the Trojans some breathing room. USC ended the game on an 11-2 run.
The victory improved the Trojans to 16-6 and 8-3 in the Pac-12. Washington State fell to 10-14 and 5-8 in conference play.
Boogie Ellis paced USC with 23 points. Peterson added 20 and Tre White had 14. Washington State big man Mouhamed Gueye led all scorers with 31 points. He scored 20 in the first half.
Here’s what USC head coach Andy Enfield had to say following the USC victory.
On USC’s win:
“I’m really proud of our team. We hung in there and made the plays in the last few minutes to win the game.”
On Washington State:
“Washington State is a very difficult team to guard because they spread you out with shooters and they have an All-Conference big man in Mouhamed Gueye. He was terrific tonight, really hard to guard.”
On Kobe Johnson’s defense:
“Kobe [Johnson] had an incredible steal, just his anticipation, that’s why to me he’s the best defensive player in the Pac-12.”
On Vince Iwuchukwu:
“Vince was terrific. He played very hard. He’s starting to get a good feel and a good rhythm…We’ve thrown him into Pac-12 play in the middle of the season and it takes a little bit to adjust. I though he was great defensively with four big blocks.
Watch Enfield’s complete postgame press conference above.