PULLMAN, Wash. — Chimezie Metu scored a career-high 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds as Southern California outlasted Washington State, 86-77, Saturday night at Beasley Coliseum.

For the Cougars, the script looked familiar to recent losses to Oregon, Arizona and UCLA. Washington State (11-12 overall, 4-7 Pac-12) was competitive for 30 minutes or so before faltering down the stretch.

A dunk by Josh Hawkinson (17 points, 16 rebounds) lifted WSU into a 59-57 lead with 10:17 remaining. But the Trojans quickly raced downcourt and Jonah Mathews drained a 3-pointer to give USC the lead for good.

After Hawkinson’s dunk, USC scored 15 of the next 17 points to take a 72-61 lead and the Trojans led by at least nine points for most of the remainder of the game. The Cougs got to within 8 points with 16 seconds left, but that was as close as WSU got in the final 10 minutes.

“Against the tougher teams, we’ve fought back and taken the lead or been even, but there is that last 10 minute push where fatigue sets in and we make mental mistakes,” Kent told Matt Chazanow of the Washington State IMG Sports Network afterwards.

“We gave them a couple of big threes and suddenly it’s a 10-point game. At crunch game, when we needed to step it up we didn’t do it. When it was time to close, they had the energy and the spurt and we didn’t have it. When they took the lead, we didn’t regain our composure.”

Metu finished 12-of-14 from the field. Mathews chipped in 18 points and six boards for the Trojans (20-4, 7-4 Pac-12).

Ike Iroegbu finished with 22 points (third consecutive game with 20+ points) and nine assists for Washington State. Hawkinson recorded his 12th double-double of the season and 52nd of his career. He is one away from the school record for most career double-doubles.

Hawkinson also took sole possession of second place on WSU’s career rebounding list, passing Mark Hendrickson with 932 career rebounds.

Iroegbu has averaged 21.3 points, 7.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds over the last three games.

“Ike played with great energy and played well in the game,” Kent said. “He pushed through some things and logged a lot of minutes. He continues to produce.”

The teams traded momentum and the lead throughout the first half. WSU made its first four and 5 of its first 11 3-point attempts, but the Trojans turned a 20-8 interior scoring advantage into a five-point halftime lead.

Thanks to Metu’s offensive performance, the Trojans ultimately won the interior battle and shot 57.1 percent from the field, including a torrid 73.9 percent (17-23) in the second half.

USC made 11-of-13 two-point FG attempts in the second half. After the hot start from beyond the arc, Washington State made just 4 of its last 17 3-point attempts.

USC’s bench outscored WSU’s reserves, 22-12. Four of WSU’s five starters logged 35 or more minutes, a sign of either the Cougars’ of depth or Kent’s lack of confidence in the bench.

“Our starters are logging a lot of minutes,” Kent said. “I needed more out of the bench.”

BIG PICTURE: Washington State followed up a strong 1-1 road trip last week by dropping two at home to two of the Pac-12's better teams. After losing to No. 11 UCLA on Thursday in a game closer than the final score indicated, WSU couldn't contain USC inside on Saturday.

UP NEXT: Washington State heads to the Rocky Mountain region to face Utah Thursday and Colorado next Sunday.

NEXT FIVE GAMES:

Feb. 9 at Utah, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 12 at Colorado, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Feb. 16 ARIZONA, 6 p.m. (FS1)

Feb. 18 ARIZONA STATE, 2 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 26 WASHINGTON, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

(All Times Pacific)

PAC-12 RESULTS/SCHEDULE (Feb. 4)

Oregon 85, Arizona 58

Stanford 81, Utah 75

USC 86, Washington State 77

Arizona State 81, Oregon State 68

UCLA 107, Washington 66