National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Washington 82, Southern California 75
When: 4:30 PM ET, Saturday, March 8, 2014
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, Washington
Officials: # Don McAllister, # Ruben Ramos, # Justin VanDuyne
Attendance: 7337


Washington 82, USC 75: C.J. Wilcox posted 24 points, eight rebounds and three steals in his final regular-season home game as the host Huskies used an early second-half surge to down the Trojans.

Andrew Andrews scored 19 points and Shawn Kemp Jr. added 12 for Washington (17-14, 9-9 Pac-12), which won for the third time in four games. Freshman Nigel Williams-Goss contributed seven points, six rebounds and nine assists before fouling out as the Huskies went 27-of-31 from the free-throw line.

Nikola Jovanovic led the way with 21 points for USC (11-20, 2-16), which has lost 11 of 12. Byron Wesley came on late to score 14 of his 19 points in the second half while Pe'Shon Howard tallied 13 points to round the Trojans who finished in double figures.

Neither team held a lead of more than four points until Wilcox, Kemp and Andrews combined for the last 13 points of a 15-0 run to start the second half that gave Washington a 50-37 advantage with 15 1/2 minutes to go. Wesley ended the surge with a jumper, but Wilcox’s three-point play a little less than two minutes later stretched the margin to 17.

Following a three-point play by Andrews that made it 69-57 with 6:19 to go, USC made a game of it when Wesley sparked a 10-3 surge with a three-point play and capped it with a layup before Williams-Goss drained a 3-pointer to end the run. Jovanovic’s layup brought the Trojans’ deficit back to five with 30 seconds left, but Desmond Simmons preserved the victory with a dunk on the other end.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington avoided its first losing conference record since 2007-08. … USC has lost 20 games in two of the last three years after suffering through six such seasons since it began play in 1906-07. … The Huskies shot 39.1 percent from the field, ending a three-game stretch in which they had converted at least half of their field-goal attempts.

Top Game Performances
 
Southern California   Washington
Nikola Jovanovic 21 Scoring C.J. Wilcox 24
Pe'Shon Howard 2 Assists Nigel Williams-Goss 9
Julian Jacobs 8 Rebounds Perris Blackwell 8
Nikola Jovanovic 6 Free Throws Made C.J. Wilcox 9
Chass Bryan 1 Steals C.J. Wilcox 3
D.J. Haley 1 Blocks Perris Blackwell 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Southern California 75 40.3 5-12 20-26 6 36 2 3 14
Washington 82 39.1 5-23 27-31 17 38 4 6 10