Southern California @ Washington St. preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Southern California 93, Washington St. 84

USC takes its second five-game winning streak of the season into the start of Pac-12 Conference play on Thursday when it visits Washington State. The host Cougars, who won just 11 games last season and finished in 11th place in the Pac-12 with a 4-14 mark, have already won nine games this season and carry a six-game winning streak into their conference opener.

The Trojans won 11 of their 13 non-conference games, including impressive wins at TCU and over defending SEC regular-season champion LSU in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the Staples Center, and come in off a 71-58 victory over Florida Gulf Coast despite missing leading scorer Onyeka Okongwu who was sidelined with a sprained ankle. "Onyeka could have played tonight, but it was precautionary to hold him out," USC coach Andy Enfield said of the 6-9, 245-pound freshman forward who twice earned California's Mr. Basketball award at Chino Hills High School where he played on three state-title winning squads. "It was a good win but we didn't play exceptionally well. But being 11-2 is a credit to our team with the tough schedule that we've had." Washington State comes in off a 65-50 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday and finished December with a perfect 6-0 record, the first time since 2007-08, when it went 5-0 during a 14-0 start, to the season that the Cougars accomplished that feat.

TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: Pac-12 Network

ABOUT USC (11-2, 0-0 Pac-12): Nick Rakocevic, a 6-11 senior forward who was on the Pac-12's preseason all-conference team, had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-2 3-pointers, and also pulled down 13 rebounds in the win over Florida Gulf Coast while senior guards Daniel Utomi and Jonah Mathews added 13 and 10 points, respectively. "With Big O (Okongwu) out, other players had to step up," said Utomi, a grad transfer from Akron. "We had to toughen it out and come out with a win." Okongwu leads the team in both scoring (17.7) and rebounding (9.0) while Rakocevic (12.5) and Mathews (12.4) also are averaging in double figures.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (9-4, 0-0): Sophomore forward CJ Elleby has scored in double figures in all 13 games and is third in the Pac-12 in scoring with a 20.1 average and also leads the team in rebounding with an average of 6.7 per contest. Junior point guard Isaac Bonton is second in scoring (13.0) and leads the team in assists (3.0) while senior forward Jeff Pollard also is averaging in double digits (10.2). The Cougars enter the week ranked 11th in Division I in fewest turnovers with an average of 11.0 per game but have struggled shooting the ball, ranking last in the Pac-12 in both field goal percentage (40.7) and 3-point shooting percentage (29.1).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. USC leads the series with Washington State, 75-48, and has won the last six in a row.

2. The Trojans are shooting 47.7 percent from the field over their past five games including 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

3. Rakocevic's double-double against Florida Gulf Coast was the 25th of his career.

PREDICTION: USC 78, Washington State 71