That momentum that USC finished with Saturday night in the win over rival UCLA carried right back into Galen Center on Thursday -- at least for most of the evening.
The No. 17-ranked Trojans led by as many as 23 points near the midway point of the second half before allowing Washington to make a late run but never really threaten the game, as the hosts closed out a 79-69 win.
Veteran center Chevez Goodwin scored a season-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and added 9 rebounds to lead the way as USC improved to 22-4 overall and 11-4 in the Pac-12.
Guard Drew Peterson backed up his best game of the season with a well-balanced performance, contributing 14 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, and forward Isaiah Mobley made his return after a two-game injury absence, wearing a protective mask over his broken nose while chipping in 12 points and 8 assists over a full 29 minutes.
But perhaps the most impressive stat was that the Trojans tallied a season-high 28 assists on 30 made field goals.
"That was the game plan -- we had to share the basketball. Their zone is very good. They get a lot of steals, deflections and they make you turn it over. ... And I thought our guys did a great job tonight of that," coach Andy Enfield said. "Twenty-eight assists is a lot -- a season high. I don't know if our team has ever had 28 assists. On 30 made field goals, that's pretty good. So I think the unselfish play of our guys tonight was really good. ... That's pretty good offense."
Indeed, once USC figured out the Washington zone defense, it was all over. For the first 10 minutes of the game, the Trojans were trying to find the holes in that zone, taking up to the last second of the shot clock multiple times. USC had multiple chances during that time to score with open opportunities but missed the shots. The Trojans did know they had to have excellent ball movement to beat this defense and soon enough it all clicked.
USC was up 22-21 before closing the first half on a 20-4 run, including scoring the final 11 points.
It started with Mobley and Isaiah White getting into the paint for scores and Goodwin throwing down a dunk to spark the offense.
After the teams traded points, Peterson sparked that 11-0 closing run with a 3-pointer, Goodwin scored again down low, White made four free throws and Peterson capped it with a jumper with 14 seconds left in the half for a 42-25 lead.
That was essentially the game.
The team was truly firing on all cylinders Thursday night. Goodwin started the game off dominating in the paint, where he ended up scoring 20 of his 24 points, bullying the bigger defender in 6-foot-11 Nate Roberts.
“This is funny but [USC graduate assistant] David Serge, he rebounds for me every day, and those are the spots we work on every day. Like shooting from those spots, jump hooks and floaters from those areas every day up the middle. It was just like practice, honestly," Goodwin said.
Mobley came back from his two-game absence wearing the custom-fitted face mask. He made 4 of his 9 shots, but big stat for him was his 8 assists and 0 turnovers, which sort of characterized the night overall for the Trojans.
“They played zone the whole time so we knew we were going to pass it, obviously not too many one-on-one opportunities," Mobley said. "We just had to get it to the middle, put playmakers in the middle and make plays. We told everyone be ready, be available.”
Peterson kept his hot streak going on 6-of-11 shooting overall and 2 of 5 from the 3-point line. Peterson also played very well defensively against the Huskies' best scorer, Terrell Brown Jr., holding Brown to 2-of-7 shooting in the first half. When Peterson was out of the game, Brown started to turn it around in the second half, scoring 6 points during an 11-0 Huskies run that cut the score to 64-52 with a little less than 10 minutes to play. But that's as close as Washington (13-11, 8-6) would get until a late flurry in the final 2 minutes got it to within 10 points.
If USC wants a shot at going deep into the NCAA Tournament, it not only needs Mobley and Peterson playing well but need guys like Max Agbonkpolo, Ethan Anderson and Isaiah White to play good complimentary basketball.
Agbonkpolo, who started over Ethan Anderson, struggled against the Huskies, only scoring 3 points with 4 fouls and 3 turnovers.
Anderson had another excellent game. Even though he only scored 2 points, he works extremely hard defensively and is a good facilitator on offense. He truly does all the dirty work for the Trojans, fighting through screens and constantly communicating with his teammates.
White also played some excellent hard minutes off the bench. In his 15 minutes of play, he scored 9 points on 2-of-4 shooting, making 5 of his 6 free throw attempts. He was also active on the boards, grabbing 6 rebounds.
As for Mobley's return to action, he said he only had about 1.5 practices to get his timing back in the flow of the team, but he ultimately settled in and got used to the mask.
"It took me a second to get adjusted. Everyone asked me if I could see. Yes, I can see, but at first it was a little discomfort," he said. "I forgot to wear it in practice yesterday so it was like my first time playing with it on, but I finally figured out how to make it so the mask is as comfortable as could be."
