USC beats Washington State 80-70 to win eleven straight games at the Galen Center

USC Trojans #3 Vincent Iwuchukwu (F) went up for a monster dunk that had the fans standing on their feet at the Galen Center. Photo by Rashad Griffin/TGSportstv1.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The USC Trojans (8-3) are one game behind Arizona (9-2) and UCLA (9-3) for first place in the Pac12 Conference after beating the Washington State Cougars at the Galen Center 80-70, after allowing their big man Mouhamed Gueye to score 31 points and 12 rebounds.

It was the second-best start for the Trojans since the 2015-16 season, after winning 15 straight games at the Galen Center.

Boogie Ellis led USC in scoring with 23 points, Drew Peterson with 20 points, Tre White with 14 points, and Reese Dixon-Waters with 8 points.

Josuha Morgan had to leave the game in the first half with an ankle injury, and Vincent Iwuchukwu did a solid job playing 22:23 with some key block shots toward the end of the game.

"Vince was terrific, "USC head coach Andy Enfield. He played very hard, you see he's starting to feel a good rhythm. You know, it's so hard when you go through what he did and then not play and forget about the medical issue, talking about the lack of playing. He had no training camp, no summer basketball, no scrimmages, and now we throw him into Pac-12 play in the middle of the season. It takes a little bit to adjust. So I thought he was great defensively with four big blocks. Offensively, he will come around, right now we just need him to defend and rebound and finish around the rim."

Washington Huskies #35 Mouhamed Gueye (F) shooting a three-pointer over USC Trojans #0 Kobe Johnson (G) and #13 Drew Peterson (G). Photo by Rashad Griffin/TGSportstv1.

Joshua Morgan gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead in the first half. The Cougars would lead 9-7 with a three-pointer by Mouhamed Gueye. The Trojans trailed 13-9 after a jump shot by Drew Peterson. USC trailed 15-11 with a jump shot by Reese Dixon-Waters.

Justin Powell made a three-pointer to give Washington State an 18-11 lead with 12:44 left in the first half. The Cougars led 23-11 with a three-pointer by Andrej Jakimovski. USC was down 26-17 with a jump shot by Peterson.

Boogie Ellis made a three-pointer to have USC down by six points, 28-22, with 8:00 minutes left in the first half. Ellis threw a pass to Tre White for a dunk, which made the score 28-24.

USC trailed 28-27 with a three-pointer by Ellis. The Trojans took the lead 30-28 with a three-pointer by Peterson. Kymany Houinsou drove to the basket for a dunk to tie the game 30-30. Tre White gave USC a 37-32 lead after his made layup. The Cougars trailed at halftime 37-35.

Gueye scored 20 points and seven rebounds in the first half to lead Washington State in scoring. Peterson led USC in scoring, with 14 points, and Ellis and White each with 6 points.

Washington State led 39-37 with a reverse layup by Gueye in the second half. USC retook the lead with a pair of free throws by White 40-39. The Trojans trailed 43-40 with a layup by Gueye.

Carlos Rosario would make a three-point shot as the Cougars led 46-42. Ellis would make a three-point shot from the top of the key to have the Trojans trailing 46-45.

USC Trojans #5 Boogie Ellis (G) pulling up for a jump shot on the right side of the basket at the Galen Center. Photo by Rashad Griffin/TGSportstv1.

Ellis is playing with so much confidence in his shooting this season and is a fierce competitor, no matter if his shot is falling or not.

"I actually watched this video; it was Gilbert Arenas, "Ellis said. He said, 'if you start the game zero for five, and then in the second half, you go to five for five, it's still a great game. If in the first half, you start five for five, and you finish zero for five it is still a great game.' At the end of the day, I'm always in the gym, and I'm working on my game. I have extreme confidence, even when I'm missing shots. I feel like the younger me would check out the game if I'm not making shots. Just believing in myself. Trust in my work, basketball is about its misses, makes, and turnovers. Bad things are going to happen, but then you have to shake it off and keep going."

USC led 49-47 with another three-pointer from Ellis at the top of the key with 14:20 left in the game. White went up for a dunk and made the score 51-47.

Andrej Jakimovski would drive to the basket for a layup, and the Cougars trailed 51-49. Dixon-Waters made two free throws to give USC a 53-49 lead. Washington State trailed by two points, 53-51, with a layup by TJ Bamba.

Ellis would increase USC's lead to 60-54 with a three-pointer from the right side of the court, forcing Washing State to call a timeout.

Washington State Cougars #23 Andrej Jakimovski (F) three-point shot from the left side of the basket at the Galen Center. Photo by Rashad Griffin/TGSportstv1.

Jakimovski would make a three-pointer to have the Cougars down 61-57. Geuye would be foul on his made layup and made one free throw to have Washington State trailing 61-60.

The Cougars would finally take the lead 65-63 with a three-point jump shot by Justin Powell with 4:29 left in the game. USC was down 65-64 with a free throw by Peterson. The Trojans would take the lead back 67-65 with a three-pointer by Kobe Johnson.

Dixon-Water would make two free throws to push USC's lead to 69-65. Washington State was down 69-68 with a three-pointer by TJ Bamba. Vincent Iwuchukwu made the defensive play by blocking Powell's shot attempt, which caused a shot-clock violation to give the ball back to the Trojans.

USC would go an 11-2 run to end the game and improved their record to (16-6, Pac-12, 8-3) and Washington State fell to (10-14, Pac-12, 5-8), and will host the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.