No. 20 USC Men's Basketball Wins 8th Straight In 63-61 Nailbiter at Washington State
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Chevez Goodwin sank a layup and a free throw with 16 seconds left to lift undefeated No. 20 USC to a 63-61 victory over Washington State on Saturday.
Goodwin led USC (8-0, 2-0 Pac-12) with 14 points and added five rebounds. Drew Peterson scored 13 points for the Trojans and Max Agbonkpolo scored nine points for the Trojans and had a key block with 6 seconds left.
Clutch and-1 from @ChevezGoodwin gives USC the late lead!
📺: @Pac12Network
📱: https://t.co/Q6Ad2slCAX pic.twitter.com/Skx6DebkUg— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) December 5, 2021
Michael Flowers scored 13 points to lead Washington State (6-2, 1-1). Noah Williams finished with 12 points, but missed two field goal attempts in the closing seconds.
In a back-and-forth game, USC's offensive efficiency (50% from the field) proved to be too much for the Cougars, who shot just 38%.
TJ Bamba hit a go-ahead 3 to give the Cougars a 61-60 lead with 31.4 seconds left to go 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Washington State made its first four field goal attempts to take an early lead, and led 32-30 at halftime despite going over seven minutes without a field goal.
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans remain undefeated heading into a three-game homestand.
8️⃣-0️⃣ on the season and 1️⃣1️⃣ straight wins against Wazzu! pic.twitter.com/jUcpiQM4f3
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) December 5, 2021
Washington State: The Cougars were undone by hitting only 22 of 58 field goals. But they made 8-of-20 3-pointers to keep it close.
UP NEXT
USC resumes non-conference play with a three-game homestand at Galen Center, starting with their Tuesday night match against Eastern Kentucky.