LOS ANGELES – It has been so commonplace in recent weeks, that it could have been predicted.
In its win at Washington State last Saturday, USC trailed the Cougars by 11 after the first four minutes.
Three nights earlier at Washington, it was also down a few baskets early on.
The upset of UCLA in the previous game? Yes, the Trojans fell behind by eight after three minutes.
So even though USC eventually rolled to a 92-66 victory over struggling Oregon State on Thursday night at the Galen Center, the Trojans arrived at a familiar position. There was an early deficit.
The Beavers scored first, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers on their first two possessions in the opening minute, and jumped ahead, 6-0.
Whatever potential drama seemed possible subsided quickly. USC promptly recovered. Junior guards Elijah Stewart and Jordan McLaughlin each hit a 3-point shot. Sophomore Chimezie Metu flushed a fast-break slam dunk.
By the first media timeout, the Trojans had gained a 10-8 lead. They never trailed again.
Facing the last-place Beavers, whose last victory came before Christmas, USC equaled its second-biggest margin of victory this season. It was also its fifth consecutive win, as it enters an anticipated showdown with fifth-ranked Oregon on Saturday. The Ducks handed the Trojans their first loss earlier back in December, ending their perfect 14-0 start to the season.
USC improved to 21-4 overall and 8-4 in conference. The Beavers dropped to 4-21, 0-12.
As they pushed ahead of Oregon State during the first half on Thursday, building a 44-27 lead, the Trojans relied heavily on their 3-point shooting, making six of their first eight attempts from beyond the arc. Of their first 22 points, 18 came via 3-pointers.
USC also showed no trouble in transition, running with eight fast-break points, or on defense, where it held Oregon State to 32 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
For the game, USC shot 51 percent, including 45 percent from 3-point range. Oregon State made only 39 percent of its shots.
Sophomore guard Shaqquan Aaron led USC with 21 points, just short of the career-high 23 points he had two weeks earlier against UCLA.
It was a notable contribution from Aaron, who left in the second half of the Trojans’ win at Washington State last week when he took a hard fall on his tailbone and had been considered day-to-day this week by Coach Andy Enfield.
Three other Trojans scored in double-figures. Forward Bennie Boatwright had 16, while Stewart and Metu added 14 and 11, respectively.
USC is 3-0 since Boatwright returned from a knee injury. Since his return, the 6-foot-10 sophomore has averaged 17.3 points in 25.6 minutes.
The Trojans led by as many as 28 in the final minutes.
Oregon State played its 19th consecutive game without leading scorer Tres Tinkle, a sophomore guard and the son of Coach Wayne Tinkle.
More to come on this story.
Contact the writer: jkaufman@scng.com
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