3-Points: USC 98, UW 88

By Jordan Moore on January 30, 2016 4:23 PM | No Comments

Written by Caroline Deisley, USC blog contributor

The Trojans avenged their disappointing loss to the Huskies up in Seattle by dominating Washington at home, 98-88, while also keeping their perfect home record (13-0) intact to advance to 17-5 (6-3) on the season.

Click here for a full recap from Saturday's victory over Washington.

Lighting Doesn't Strike the Same Spot Twice

The first time these two teams met on January 3, Washington fought back from a 22-point deficit to defeat USC, 87-85. Entering the rematch, the Trojans had not forgotten the Huskies' athleticism and explosiveness, which gives Washington the ability to overcome large leads in a matter of minutes.

"You blink and they put 8 or 10 points up in 45 seconds," said head coach Andy Enfield. "No lead is safe with this team. We knew we had to play 40 minutes."

Part of the reason for USC's second half collapse in the first meeting was the guards' inability to handle the full-court pressure from Washington. On Saturday, the Trojans saw their 11-point halftime lead dwindle to three with 13:25 left to go. However, a 17-7 run, punctuated by a Jordan McLaughlin three-pointer that caused an eruption at the Galen Center, gave the Trojans a double-digit lead that they maintained until the Huskies cut it to five with six minutes remaining. USC withstood the run again by answering with another 17-9 run to regain its double-digit lead that it kept until the final buzzer.

"We just remained poised," said McLaughlin about Washington's second half run. "We understood what we went through when we were up there. We really emphasized all our mistakes that we made up there so we wouldn't make them today."

Feeling 100

The Trojans finished the game with five players in double figures, including Nikola Jovanovic and McLaughlin, who led the team in scoring with 28 points and 21 points respectively. McLaughlin is coming off a week-long illness that has prevented the guard from playing at his usual level; however, on Saturday, he looked like he was feeling more than 100 percent, adding seven rebounds and five assists to his 21 points.

"I was just able to make the right plays tonight," said the sophomore. "When you're able to see the ball go in a couple times, get a couple easy ones, the basket gets bigger."

The entire roster seemed to be feeling it on Saturday as the Trojans outshot the Huskies 52% to 36%, including an incredible 65% from the field in the second half. Almost every night, there is a different Trojan at the top of the stat sheet, demonstrating this team's depth and versatility up and down the lineup rather than a reliance on certain players to put up 20+ points every night.

"We have extremely talented offensive players," said Enfield. "They share the ball. They've bought into making the extra pass. If you look at our assist numbers, we're leading the league in assists because we're sharing the basketball."

View From the Top

USC continues to legitimize its talent with statement victories like this win over Washington, which is drawing a lot of attention to the program. On Saturday, everyone was trying to get a piece of the action with attendees including NBA players like D'Angelo Russell, USC alum Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford as well as celebrities like actor Christian Bale. The dominating performance all those at the Galen Center witnessed launched the Trojans into a tie for second-place in the Pac-12 and it marks the program's best start to a season since 1992 when USC went 18-4.

"It feels good. We're just trying to stay humble as a team and work hard," said Jovanovic on the team's success. "The last two years were really hard for us and it was a big learning experience. We're going to enjoy it at the same time, but it's not over."

Check out the Snappy TV highlights from Saturday's victory including outstanding ball-handling from McLaughlin...

3-Points: USC 98, UW 88

3-Points: USC 98, UW 88

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University Southern California Trojans

3-Points: USC 98, UW 88

3-Points: USC 98, UW 88

Tags:

Trojans footer