Boogie Ellis scored a game-high 21 points, including a jumper from the free-throw line with 0.2 seconds remaining, as No. 17 Southern California survived a scare and defeated Washington State 62-60 on Sunday night in a Pacific-12 Conference game at Los Angeles.
Drew Peterson added 17 points and Max Agbonkpolo had 10 for the Trojans (23-4, 12-4 Pac-12), who rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to win their fourth consecutive game. Isaiah Mobley, in just his second game since breaking his nose Feb. 5 against Arizona, added eight points and team highs of nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
Tyrell Roberts led Washington State (14-12, 7-8) with 16 points and four assists. Noah Williams added 14 points, Michael Flowers scored 12 and Andrej Jakimovski had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Trojans trailed 49-41 with 11:25 remaining before tying the score at 57-all on a jumper by Peterson with 4:18 to go, capping a 6-0 run.
A free throw by Jakimovski and a jumper by Roberts gave Washington State a 60-57 advantage with 2:35 remaining before Agbonkpolo made a 3-pointer from the corner to tie it with 2:15 remaining.
The Trojans took a timeout with 20 seconds left to set up the last shot and Ellis delivered, giving USC its 12th consecutive victory over the Cougars dating to 2015.
The Cougars, who lost their fifth game in a row, rallied from an early 10-point deficit to take a 32-28 halftime lead, almost solely on their 3-point shooting.
WSU was 15 of 31 from 3-point range and 5 of 32 inside the arc for the game, shooting 31.7 percent overall. The Cougars forced 14 turnovers and turned those into 25 points to stay close.
Williams made all three of his 3-point attempts during a 14-3 run in the first half, including one that gave the Cougars a 20-19 lead with 10:13 to go
Ellis converted a rare four-point play early in the game as the Trojans took a 16-6 lead in the opening five minutes.
Washington State got a boost from the return of center Dishon Jackson, who missed the previous 10 games after suffering an eye injury Jan. 8 against Utah. Jackson had five points, four rebounds and three blocks.
–Field Level Media
