UCLA vs. Washington State Pick Center

No. 19 Washington State rallies to beat Southern California 75-72

Fri, Mar 1, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Isaiah Watts and Andrej Jakimovski scored 18 points each and Myles Rice added 16 to help No. 19 Washington State rally past Southern California, 75-72 on Thursday night.

The Cougars (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) trailed by 12 points late in the first half and didn't take their first lead until 2:35 remaining on a 3-pointer from Watts, his fifth of the game.

USC freshman Isaiah Collier scored 24 points, but missed a critical free throw with 23 seconds left that would have cut Washington State's lead to two points.

Jaylen Wells then missed two free throws on the other end for Washington State and USC (11-17, 5-12) had one last chance to try and force overtime, but Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson missed 3-point attempts in the final seconds.

READ MORE Graham Ike scores 26 points to lead No. 23 Gonzaga past San Francisco, 86-68 No. 19 Washington State rallies from 12-point deficit to top Southern California 75-72 Kylan Boswell scores 17, No. 6 Arizona pulls away late to beat Arizona State 85-67

NO. 23 GONZAGA 86, SAN FRANCISCO 68

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Graham Ike scored 26 points and Gonzaga beat San Francisco to clinch a bye into the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The Bulldogs (23-6, 13-2) won their 29th straight game against the Dons (22-8, 11-4) to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament behind No. 17 Saint Mary's. The top two teams get byes to the semifinals meaning Gonzaga will need to win only two games in Las Vegas to win the conference tournament and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Nolan Hickman scored 22 points and Ryan Nembhard added 15 to help Gonzaga win its seventh straight game. Malik Thomas scored 23 points 14 for San Francisco in the game played at Chase Center.

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