USC basketball: Washington State pregame

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Greetings and salutations!

Coming to you from Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash., where USC (16-9 overall, 8-5 in Pacific 10 Conference) and Washington State (15-11, 5-9) are scheduled to play some basketball Saturday.

A quick word on ‘land mine’ games because Saturday’s USC-WSU matchup is most applicable: When USC played at Washington on Thursday, the Huskies, one of the better teams in the Pac-10, came out flat, which was strange for a team that entered the game with a 16-1 home record and had blown teams out in its building by an average of 18.3 points.

Why, you ask? Well, Washington had an ESPN GameDay game two days later with UCLA,and the Huskies overlooked the Trojans, for most of the game anyway, and that’s we media elitists call a ‘land mine’ game.

As such, USC is walking into a ‘land mine’ game today. Washington State is coming off a 20-point loss at home to the Bruins, and it looked in that one like the Cougars just gave up. I expect Washington State to play amped up this afternoon, partly because the student section, the unsung factor in any road game, looks fierce.

But I digress...

Here are some facts and stats to get you up to speed. Tipoff was at 2 p.m. (radio broadcast on 710):

USC player to watch: Mike Gerrity

If Gerrity plays well, USC usually wins, especially if the opposing team is pressing and he can push the ball for some transition points. He hit a huge shot late at Washington that helped seal that win, but earlier in the game, he helped the Trojans build a double-digit lead by driving and kicking to open shooters. He played 38 minutes against the Huskies, scoring 12 points, and was exhausted after. He looks fine in warmups just now, but we’ll see how he’s doing late in the second half.

Washington State player to watch: Reggie Moore

Klay Thompson gets all the ink for WSU, and rightly so since he ranks second in the conference in scoring (20.8). But Moore, a freshman point guard who averages 13.5 points and 4.2 assists, is the key to this game because USC doesn’t have anyone who can guard him. (Sorry, Gerrity. The truth hurts.) Moore had 21 points when the teams met and USC Coach Kevin O’Neill said after that game that ‘one guy wrecked us,’ that one guy being Moore. Point guards are usually the difference, and Moore is the biggest factor in today’s game.

Key to the game: See above, concerning a Mr. Moore.

-- Baxter Holmes, reporting from Pullman, Wash.