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GAME NOTES: The surging USC Trojans invade Friel Court in Pullman today for a Pac-10 Conference battle with the Washington State Cougars.

Four consecutive victories have enabled USC to move to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in league play. The Trojans knocked off Washington on the road on Thursday night by a 67-64 final, just their second true road win of the season in eight tries. They have allowed more than 69 points in just one of 25 games this season, proof of the tremendous defense the team has played.

Not much has gone right for Washington State in recent weeks, as the team has lost its last three games and six of the last seven to fall to 15-11 overall and 5-9 in conference. The Cougars were completely dominated in Thursday's 71-51 home loss to UCLA, and while they are still 9-4 at home, two of the last three in Pullman have ended in disappointment.

Washington State beat USC by a 67-60 final on January 21st, but the Trojans still own a 66-42 advantage in the all-time series.

USC played strong defense in the first half against Washington on Thursday and led the Huskies by eight points at intermission. The second half wasn't quite as impressive for the Trojans, but they held on for the narrow win. Dwight Lewis was tremendous, as the standout guard scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Nikola Vucevic added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Mike Gerrity pitched in 12 points. As for Marcus Johnson, he netted 10 points in 30 minutes of action. Lewis is averaging 14.0 ppg this season, and Vucevic checks in with 11.7 ppg and 9.8 rpg. Johnson brings 10.0 ppg to the mix for the Trojans, who are limiting foes to 56.6 ppg on 37.9 percent shooting, helping them overcome a low output of 60.6 ppg.

Klay Thompson is the leading scorer for Washington State, as he is netting 20.8 ppg through 26 outings. Reggie Moore checks in with 13.5 ppg, and DeAngelo Casto adds 10.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 56 blocks. The Cougars are generating 74.0 ppg while allowing 71.9 ppg to opponents. Against UCLA, Washington State connected on only 36 percent of its field goal attempts en route to the 20-point defeat, and a 3-of-19 effort from three-point range was particularly disappointing. Reggie Moore scored 11 points for the Cougars, who got 10 points from DeAngelo Casto. Defensively, WSU was horrendous, permitting the Bruins to shoot 65.9 percent from the floor.

While Washington State has already beaten USC once this season and has the obvious advantage of playing at home today, the edge goes to the Trojans. Clearly, USC enters the more confident team.