USC's Jio Fontan shoots against Washington State as coach Kevin O'Neill looks on at the Galen Center. (Shotgun Spratling)
It was nearly deja vu.
Last season, the Washington State Cougars roared back from a 15-point deficit to knock off USC at the Galen Center.
The Trojans (9-6, 1-1) almost let them do it again before coming away with a 60-56 victory Friday evening.
USC coach Kevin O'Neill reminded his team of last season's disappointing loss, but after taking a 58-45 lead with 3:30 remaining, the Trojans went frigidly cold.
Washington State (10-4, 0-2) went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to two with just over a minute remaining.
But after a turnover forced Washington State to foul, senior Donte Smith stepped to the line and calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to ice the game with 10 seconds left.
Key moment: Guard Donte Smith opened conference play making only two of nine 3-pointers. He made up for it in the final 10 minutes against Washington State.
USC saw a 5-point lead expand to 11 during a four-minute stretch. Smith opened the four-minute span with back-to-back 3-pointers and closed it with his third straight long range basket. Fittingly, Smith pounded his chest and flashed the three outside digits on each hand.
Player of the game: Donte Smith. After struggling to a 2-for-7 performance against Washington, Smith started slow against Washington State. He missed six of his first seven shots against the Cougars, but coach Kevin O'Neill told him to keep firing.
"KO told me 'Just let it go. Just shoot it. Don't hesitate.' And that's what I did," Smith said. "In the second half, I knew I just had to come big for us to get this win."
Smith knocked down his final five shots -- three big 3-pointers and two clutch free throws to close the game out.
Most Spectacular Play: Washington State star Klay Thompson missed his first 10 two-point field goal attempts. He didn't make a two-point basket until 15:47 in the second half, but it was an emphatic and impressive basket.
Finally able to free himself of USC's pesky stopper Marcus Simmons with a defensive switch after a screen, Thompson used dribble penetration to blow by Nikola Vucevic. Coming down the right side of the lane from the top of the key, Thompson exploded off his left foot just inside the right block.
USC forward Alex Stepheson came from the weak side to block the shot, but Thompson threw down a hammer dunk over Stepheson's outstretched hand for an assertive two points.
Unsung Hero: Marcus Simmons. The Pac-10's leading scorer, Thompson, struggled from the field all game. He finished with 17 points but took 18 field goal attempts. Thompson's struggles were mainly because of Simmons. He was draped all over Thompson on nearly every possession, forcing him into a number of difficult shots.
"Marcus Simmons is becoming as good of a defensive stopper as you can have in college basketball," O'Neill said.
Against Simmons, Thompson couldn't buy a basket in the first half. He started the game 2-for-11 with both field goals coming on open 3-pointers off broken plays.
"Klay is a great scorer," Simmons said. "When he comes off screens, he has a quick release. I didn't think he'd miss that many shots."
"Step It Up:" Rather than a New Year's Eve celebration, Jio Fontan said he may return to the Galen Center and spend the evening shooting free throws after he missed two crucial shots from the charity stripe down the stretch.
In the final 2:30, the Fordham transfer had an opportunity to put the game out of reach. However, he clanked the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities.
"It's unacceptable on my end. I have to put the game away," Fontan said. "I should have closed the game out. Fortunately, Donte Smith is on my team."
Key stat: 9 & 5. Once again, USC forwards Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson both recorded double-doubles. Vucevic had 12 points and 11 rebounds for a conference-best ninth double-double this season. In his final game wearing a brace on his left wrist to protect a broken bone, Stepheson had 14 points and 10 rebounds to give him his fifth of the season.
It was the sixth time Vucevic and Stepheson have recorded double-digit points and rebounds in the same game during the last two seasons. USC is now 5-1 in those contests.
Sideline Strategy: USC has struggled against zone defenses dating back to last year. While they still weren't great, USC's zone offense was much improved from the stagnant effort they displayed against Washington.
Coach Kevin O'Neill moved Jio Fontan to the point to combat the Cougars' zone defense. The Trojans moved the ball more crisply and Fontan's dribble penetration created some open looks.
It wasn't the prettiest display of breaking a zone, but it was enough to get Washington State to switch back to a man-to-man defense in the second half.
Where They Stand: USC had to bounce back from a tough home loss two days earlier.
"If we would've played yesterday, we would've gotten smoked," O'Neill said. "We took the loss to Washington very hard."
Thursday's light practice was very somber with several team members hanging their heads and dragging a little bit, players said. Donte Smith commented that the practice "looked like a funeral."
"Fortunately, we had a day to get over it, and we bounced back with one of our better defensive performances of the year," O'Neill said.
Splitting with two of the upper-tier teams in the Pac-10, the Trojans are in a much better position. An 0-2 start at home would have put USC in a tremendous hole for the conference schedule.
The NCAA Tournament selection committee would have also frowned heavily on the Trojans potentially earning an at-large bid if USC couldn't win a game at home when they were leading by 13 with 3:30 remaining.
The team now has a week to prepare for next weekend's showdown with crosstown rival UCLA. O'Neill said the Trojans need to make the same type of progress they made earlier this season when they had nearly a week between the TCU and Texas games.
UCLA will enter the matchup having won six of their last seven. They are a much-improved team from the squad USC swept last season. A win would keep the Trojans in the top half of the conference and in good standing with the selection committee.
To reach Shotgun Spratling, click here , or follow him on Twitter @BlueWorkhorse .
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