COUGARS

FROM LOS ANGELES -- Well, that wasn't pretty. But the Cougars got what they were after  -- a win, no matter how it came. We have our postgame review after the jump.

PLAYER OF THE GAME -- Brock Motum took over in the second half, scoring WSU's first 13 points of the period to boost his team to a 39-22 lead. Turned out they didn't need to score again. And they played like it, too, going the final 9:09 without a field goal. But Motum's 27 points were the difference tonight. He scored 62.7 percent of WSU's total points, and attempted exactly half of its field goals, making 12-21.

PLAY OF THE GAME -- Probably Greg Allen's missed 3-pointer from the corner with 36 seconds to go. If he made it, the game would have been tied and all 3,102 people in here would have been going nuts. Or as nuts as 3,102 people can go.

KEY STAT -- The Trojans shot just 28.9 percent from the field, a big reason why they only scored 14 points in the first half. WSU was able to play man-to-man against them, and USC's only easy baskets were a handful of uncontested 3-pointers they made.

QUOTABLE -- "I’m pretty sure everybody expected to win more games than we did. But we’ve just got to bounce back and finish the season off strong and try to get four wins in a row." -- Mike Ladd

NEXT UP -- The first round of the Pac-12 tournament, Wednesday vs. Oregon State at the Staples Center. The Beavers (17-13, 7-11) beat Colorado on Saturday and are one of two Pac-12 teams the Cougars swept this year.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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