Washington State Wash. St./USC USC Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California freshman Desmon Farmer played as if his spot in the starting lineup was in jeopardy. It might be with the return of Jeff Trepagnier.

Farmer scored a career-high 24 points and Sam Clancy added 17 as the Trojans (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 Associated Press) defeated Washington State 82-59 in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams Thursday night.

The game marked the return of Trepagnier, a senior guard, from a nine-game suspension that was the result of an NCAA investigation into a trip to Las Vegas. He also missed the Trojans' first three games with a broken foot.

"Just to get him back on the floor was something I was happy to see," said USC coach Henry Bibby, who said Trepagnier tweaked his left ankle in the second half.

Trepagnier only scored three points off the bench, but his presence provided a boost to the Trojans. He led the Pac-10 in steals last season and has a 40-inch vertical leap.

"It was more of an emotional lift knowing we got all the pieces here," Clancy said. "He's back now and everything is good."

Farmer has benefited the most from Trepagnier's absence, starting 12 of 13 games.

"With him there or not, I can still start," Farmer said. "He got the crowd into it. He came out kind of rusty and we know it's going to take time."

The Trojans (11-2) won their ninth straight at the Sports Arena, including seven this season, but fell short of the 91 points they'd been averaging at home.

"We don't want anyone to come in our house and beat us," Clancy said. "We try to win every game at home and split on the road. This is a team we should've beat."

Washington State (6-4), which won just one Pac-10 game in 18 tries last season, got within four early in the second half before Farmer and Clancy put the game away.

With USC leading by six, Farmer and Clancy combined to score 14 of the Trojans' next 15 points. And in about five minutes, they'd built a 69-53 lead with 5:42 remaining.

Farmer showed off his moves with a baseline jumper and then a dunk and a 3-pointer for seven points in the spurt. Clancy also dunked and made three free throws as part of his seven points.

"The defense stepped up in the last 10 minutes to the last five minutes," Bibby said. "We didn't let them do things they wanted to do. We took over the game."

Farmer and Clancy's offense helped USC close it with a 28-11 run, during which the Cougars were mired in missed shots and turnovers.

"We ran out of gas," Washington State coach Paul Graham said. "We didn't move well and their size and talent prevailed."

Mike Bush led Washington State with 14 points in his second game back after being academically ineligible during the fall semester.

"I'm out of shape a little bit, but I felt good," said Bush, who had 26 points in his season debut against Nevada. "But that can't be an excuse. I have to push myself. I'm the leader of the team."

J. Locklier added 13 points and reserve Jerry McNair had 12.

"For 33 minutes, we felt we were in the game," McNair said. "The last seven minutes we broke down and everyone started going one-on-one trying to keep us in the game."

Trepagnier's entry at 13:46 of the first half was greeted by applause. But his rustiness showed as he missed a dunk, then turned the ball over and missed two free throws before scoring his first -- and only -- points of the season on a 3-pointer late in the half.

Bibby declared Trepagnier off limits to reporters after the game.

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