Defense Beginning to Have an Impact

Most impressive about USC’s victories over Long Beach State and Washington State was how well the Trojans played defensively.

USC had two solid halves in beating the 49ers, 95-73. On Thursday the Cougars were able to stay close in the first half, trailing only 38-33. But they scored only 26 points in the second half, while the Trojans scored 44. The Cougars made only eight of 37 shots.

“We stepped up defensively from the 11-minute mark of the second half until the four-minute mark,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “I think defense took over the game for us.”

Washington State Coach Paul Graham said his team played right into USC’s hands midway through the second half.

“We started pressing and took some quick shots,” he said. “We’re a young team and we have to be patient on offense.”

Cougar guard Mike Bush, who finished as his team’s leading scorer with 14 points, put it more succinctly. “The last 10 minutes we kind of froze up,” he said.

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Thursday’s win over Washington State gave USC a 5-0 record in Pac-10 openers under Bibby.

TONIGHT

vs. Washington, 7

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Sports Arena.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--No. 20 USC 11-2, 1-0; Washington 6-7, 0-1.

* Update--Washington has two losing streaks it wants to end. The loss to UCLA Thursday was the third in a row for the Huskies. And Washington has lost its last three meetings against USC. The last time these teams met, Trojan guard Jeff Trepagnier scored a career-high 28 points. Tonight will be his second game back since his suspension was lifted. Freshman guard Desmon Farmer, who had replaced Trepagnier in the starting lineup, had a career-high 24 points in the 82-59 victory over Washington State.

* Tickets--(213) 740-4672.