Isaac Jones puts up huge night as WSU tops USC on the road, 72-64

PULLMAN – In some ways, Washington State played USC just the way it wanted on Wednesday night. The Cougars pounded the ball inside. They let their post players do their thing.

That was never more clear than in the second half of WSU’s 72-64 win over USC. That’s when forward Isaac Jones, who came off the bench for 26 points and 11 rebounds, scored 17 of his points.

Wing Jaylen Wells, who took his place in the starting lineup, posted 17 points on three 3-pointers. All told, the Cougars registered 34 points in the paint, a sign that they operated much how they prefer.

The Cougars (11-5, 2-3) took the lead in the final minutes on a corner 3 from wing Andrej Jakimovski, who had five points and six rebounds. That gave WSU a 59-58 lead. The visitors added to it seconds later, when guard Myles Rice poked away a steal and shuffled it to Jones, who sank two free throws for a 61-58 lead.

The Trojans countered with a 3-pointer from a former Cougar DJ Rodman, who transferred from WSU to USC after last season, faked a pass and lasered in a straightaway 3, knotting things up with 3 minutes to play. Rodman scored eight points and eight rebounds on 3-for-8 shooting from the field.

WSU parried that blow by getting back to the free-throw line. Jones drew a loose-ball foul and headed to the line, where he hit both shots – except his team couldn’t add to it. The Cougars’ zone yielded another huge shot, a 3-pointer from big man Harrison Hornery, whose shot handed the hosts a 64-63 lead.

That’s about when Jones took over. On one trip down, he finished through contact for a three-point play, securing a 66-64 lead, and he wasn’t done. On the next possession, he built up some momentum, headed to the basket and finished over the top, good for a 68-64 lead with 1:17 to play.

From there for WSU, it was about locking down stops. The Trojans called timeout with roughly 30 seconds left. Out of that break, USC’s Boogie Ellis couldn’t hit a tough 3-point attempt, and Wells was fouled. He hit a pair of free throws, pushing his team’s lead to six, and the Cougars added to it with two more free throws from Rice, who scored 12 points.

All that followed a slow first half, which the Cougars won 29-28. They made 4 of 10 3-pointers, which is why they held the lead at halftime, but that was about the only pretty thing about the first 20 minutes. In a slow first half, both teams slogged through frustrating offensive showings.

In either case, it’s an encouraging result for WSU, which earned its first win at the Galen Center since 2015. The Cougars were coming off a narrow setback to Oregon, which scored 89 points, and the prevailing sentiment was that the Ducks shot a torrid clip.

If they slowed down a tad, could WSU have eked out a win?

With this win Wednesday, the Cougars may have proved they could – and that they can win even tougher games.

Washington State returns to action on Saturday, hosting No. 8 Arizona at 3 p.m.