USC outplays WASHINGTON

At last year's Pac-10 tournament, the UCLA Bruins used a hometown crowd to race to an easy title.

"We've got our hometown fans that support us all the way from the first game," guard Lodrick Stewart said.

Coach Tim Floyd said, "I'm not sure how big an advantage it is, but if he thinks it is, it's great."

Both teams are locks for the NCAA tournament, but today's winner might be given the Pac-10's third priority — behind UCLA and Washington State — on Selection Sunday.

Gabe Pruitt figured he was in for a big night before the game began. He proved to be quite a prophet.

Pruitt scored 26 points, and Southern California used accurate long-range shooting and success at the foul line to beat No. 11 Washington State 70-61 Friday night in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament.

The USC campus is less than five miles from Staples Center, but the Trojans had not received any home-cooking lately. Last year, in coach Tim Floyd's first season, the Trojans were one-and-done. No player on the USC roster had won a Pac-10 tournament game before this year.

But Friday night's victory saw USC fans erupt into a chant of "We are … SC!" with less than a minute left.

The Cougars weren't closer than five points after that.

USC went ahead for good in the opening 7 minutes. Stewart, who had only six points against Stanford, scored eight straight to give the Trojans a 23-14 lead.

Pruitt made two 3-pointers and Young added another, making it 32-22 with 7:13 left before halftime. USC was 8-of-11 from 3-point range and 2-of-6 from inside the arc at that stage, and Pruitt had four 3-pointers and 15 points.

Washington State trailed by four entering the locker room. The Cougars cut the lead to two in the first minute of the second half but got no closer. Uncharacteristically, the Cougars took 23 more shots than the Trojans. However, USC made 16 of 22 second-half free throws; WSU shot only six.