Washington St. @ Southern California preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 2, 2020 ) Southern California 65, Washington St. 56

USC erased the bad memory of its worst loss of the season, a 72-40 setback at Washington, with a 62-56 victory over the visiting Huskies on Thursday night. The Trojans will try to complete a sweep of the schools from the Evergreen State on Saturday night when they host Washington State.

The victory over Washington snapped a season-high three-game losing streak for USC which is a game behind first-place Colorado and Oregon in the Pac-12 standings. The Trojans did it despite being shorthanded with standout freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu, who leads the team in both scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (8.9), sidelined with a concussion while freshman guard Ethan Anderson, who leads the team in assists (4.4), left the game in the second half with a left knee contusion with another freshman point guard, Kyle Sturdivant, also unavailable following the sudden death of his father, Gary, last week in Atlanta. "That's our brother," senior forward Nick Rakocevic said. "We're always going to be here for him. ... This win was for him and his family." Washington State, which enters the game in a three-way tie for eighth-place with Oregon State and Utah, comes in off an 86-83 overtime loss at UCLA to drop to 3-59 against the Bruins in games played in Los Angeles.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: Pac-12 Network

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (14-11, 5-7 Pac-12): The Cougars had no answer for Bruin forward Cody Riley in overtime when the 6-9 sophomore scored 11 of his 19 points "We've had no moral victories," said head coach Kyle Smith. "We haven't handled success well. It's been tough for us to finish. We couldn't keep Riley off the glass." Sophomore forward CJ Elleby leads the Cougars in scoring (18.6) and rebounding (7.3) but finished with just 10 points on 4-of-18 shooting, including 2-for-10 from 3-point range Thursday but point guard Isaac Bonton, who is second on the team in scoring (14.8), helped pick up the slack with 23 points and five assists.

ABOUT USC (18-7, 7-5): Okongwu, who is in concussion protocol, and Anderson are both listed as day-to-day with their injuries and are questionable for Saturday's game. "It was a rough week," USC coach Andy Enfield said. "We had eight guys show up tonight and compete. Other guys stepped up, and our team rallied around that." Senior guard Jonah Mathews, who is second on the team in scoring (13.1), scored 16 points, including 4-of-10 3-pointers, while Rakocevic, a preseason All-Pac-12 pick, finished with a team-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. USC, which committed a season-high 24 turnovers, including 16 in the second half, in its 66-64 loss at Arizona State last Saturday, bounced back to finish with a season-low six turnovers against Washington.

2. Washington State is 1-6 on the road this season, including 0-5 in Pac-12 play.

3. The Trojans held Washington to 35 percent shooting and over the last 14 games is holding the opposition to 38.6 percent from the field.

PREDICTION: USC 77, Washington State 68