Better Late Than Never

USC's first Pac-10 victory came four games into conference play, helping the Trojans claw out of the cellar and reach 10 wins on the year. USC led most of the way, but didn't pull away until late (for visual learners, check the game flow on ESPN). O.J. Mayo got a little banged up, but returned to help lead the Trojans to a 66-51 win over Washington.

The match up was definitely the under card in LA today, with #5 UCLA knocking off previously unbeaten #4 Washington State at Pauley Pavilion.

Based on the current rankings (WSU is sure to drop a little), USC will have played the nation's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th best teams by next weekend. They lost earlier in the year in back-to-back games against unbeaten Kansas and Memphis. They fell Thursday to then-unbeaten Washington State. UCLA is probably the nation's best 1-loss team, and clearly the class of the Pac-10. Next Saturday the Trojans invade Westwood, where they'll be a major underdog. At least they have that first conference win under their belt.

Considering their stiff schedule and a league where Coach Floyd said he would be satisfied with a .500 record, USC still looks like a decent tournament team provided they continue to grow as a group and develop their bench.

Against the Huskies, USC's reserves were out-scored again, 27-7 (Note: Washington started Artem Wallace at center but he only played 4 minutes). All seven of USC's bench points came from Daniel Hackett, who is frequently in the starting lineup. The rest of USC's reserves only accounted for 7% of the game's minutes.