Wesley Yates III, making his first collegiate start, scored a career-high 19 points against his former team as injury-riddled USC trounced Washington 85-61 in a Big Ten Conference game Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
Desmond Claude scored a game-high 20 points and Saint Thomas added 19 points with two blocks and two steals for the Trojans (6-4, 1-1 Big Ten), who beat Washington for the 10th consecutive time. Rashaun Agee, who was questionable because of a back injury, came off the bench to contribute 15 points and seven rebounds.
Mekhi Mason led the Huskies (6-3, 0-2) with 15 points, and Zoom Diallo scored 10. Leading scorer and rebounder Great Osobor had nine points on 4-for-11 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and committed four turnovers.
Yates, whose previous best was 14 points, shot 7 for 11 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Yates missed the entirety of his freshman year at Washington because of a lingering foot injury.
Yates transferred to USC in the offseason in part because the Trojans hired his cousin, Quincy Pondexter, as an assistant coach on Eric Musselman’s new staff. Pondexter starred for the Huskies and played seven seasons in the NBA.
Pondexter spent three years on Mike Hopkins’ staff at Washington until the Huskies hired Danny Sprinkle.
The Trojans made their first five field-goal attempts to take an 11-5 lead and never trailed.
USC extended its lead to 51-25 at the half by going on a 9-0 run, capped by Claude’s transition 3-pointer from the top of the key at the final buzzer.
The Trojans shot 70.4 percent from the floor in the first half, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range, and had a 24-8 edge in points in the paint and 8-2 in fast-break points.
The Trojans were playing without Terrance Williams, who suffered a broken wrist in a 68-60 defeat at home Wednesday against No. 12 Oregon. In addition, Clark Slajchert (concussion), Harrison Hornery (undisclosed) and Kallai Patton (undisclosed) were also sidelined.