LOS ANGELES — USC’s Mike Gerrity cocked and fired the ball from half court, knowing his guy would fetch it.
Marcus Johnson did: soaring, catching, two-hand slam, two points, and the crowd goes wild.
“If Mike throws it up, I’ll go get it,” Johnson said.
Call the highlight-worthy alley-oop an exclamation point of USC’s offensive clinic Saturday night in an 87-61 blowout of Washington.
New USC football Coach Lane Kiffin was among the 5,876 at the Galen Center, but he saw what most Trojans fans usually don’t see:
USC playing well on offense.
“Usually, I’m trying to explain why we can’t score,” USC Coach Kevin O’Neill said. “(Tonight), I have no idea.”
Johnson had a career-high 22 points in the win.
All five USC starters scored in double figures.
The team also shot 58 percent from the field (32 of 55).
It marked the Trojans’ season high in points, 27 more than their season average.
“When people pressure us and press us, we’re going to score,” O’Neill said. “I wish everybody would press us. In the half court is where we struggle somewhat. When we can make open-court plays and run the floor, we’re pretty effective.”
Most of the plays came in the open court.
There were steals and slams, fast breaks and wide-open three pointers.
And when Washington pressed, USC pressed harder.
On one play in the first half, Gerrity drove the length of the court, weaving through Huskies defenders like traffic cones, before finishing at the rim.
“I don’t mind when they press,” said Gerrity, who finished with 15 points, seven assists and one turnover. “That just means the game will be more up and down. I enjoy that.”
It was a considerable bounce back for Gerrity, who had averaged only 5.5 points in his last six games, half of them USC losses.
But the win marked a 180-degree turn from USC’s loss against Washington State on Thursday night.
In that one, USC had a double-digit lead in the second half, then the offense stagnated and the defense followed.
In this one, once the lead increased to double digits and the Trojans had the Huskies cornered, they moved in closer, headlong, full-out.
“We were very determined,” said forward Alex Stepheson, who had 15 points and six rebounds. “We let one slip out of our hands.”
With only 11 games left before the credits roll on this season because of the postseason ban imposed by the university, each win is crucial for the goal of becoming the outright conference champions.
But with the conference wide open, the win puts USC (12-7, overall, 4-3 in Pacific 10 Conference play) in a five-way tie for second place in league play.
“I’m frankly (angry) that we’re not in first because we let a game slip away from us the other night,” O’Neill said.
Washington (12-7, 3-5) (lost for the sixth time away from its home court this season. Star forward Quincy Pondexter, who came in averaging 20.4 points, scored only two points on one-of-10 shooting.
The Huskies’ loss comes after a buzzer-beating defeat by UCLA on Thursday.
“I’m not so sure if we were ever really over that UCLA loss,” Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We were so charged up after last week and all of a sudden I thought we became somewhat deflated.”
USC certainly wasn’t. The Trojans played perhaps their first fan-friendly game of the season.
“This one was fun,” said guard Dwight Lewis, who had 19 points.
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