PULLMAN, WA- Washington State men's basketball only led for two minutes and twenty two seconds of the game. They found a way to edge out USC 75-72, all in front of a packed Beasley Coliseum of over 8,000 fans.

"It just means too much to me that everyone showed up and showed out. It was loud, that's for sure. The crowd definitely showed up, they deserve it and I think we deserve it as well as the team,” said freshman guard Isaiah Watts.

The largest crowd of the season certainly fueled the Cougs in the second half. Freshman Isaiah Watts scored a career high 18 points.

None bigger than his three pointer that put the Cougs up 68-67 with 2 and a half minutes to go.

"The way that it hit my hands, it was so perfect. It kind of had to go up, I couldn't tell you what really went on, but I just knew that I had to shoot it,” Watts said.

"I played my heart out, my guys found me, they found me and I appreciate them because I'm always open a little bit."

The Cougs were down by as many as 12 points in the first half due to turnovers and defensive miscues.

However, the Cougs never flinched.

"We talk about this being a character development program, they really showed their character,” said head coach Kyle Smith.

“It would've been easy to hang your head. They were playing well, we couldn't get a stop. No one really hung their head really and they made it happen,” Smith said.

WSU shot 50 percent from behind the arc. That's due in large part to Andrej Jakimovski, who scored 18 points, with four triples.

Jaylen Wells had 13 points, hitting the dagger three to put WSU in the lead for good.

"We hadn't been in as many tight ball games like that at home. That's good though, because that's what playing in March will be like, and it's playing with real pressure, ”Smith said.

With the win, and the UCLA loss to UW, WSU clinches a first round bye in the Pac-12 Conference tournament, which is a program first.