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Baynes, Rochestie lift Washington State in double overtime

Mar 4, 2007 - 3:24 AM PULLMAN, Washington (Ticker) -- A pair of sophomores stole the show on Senior Day.

Aron Baynes scored a career-high 25 points and Taylor Rochestie had nine of his 21 in the second overtime to lift No. 13 Washington State to an 88-86 victory over No. 24 Southern California in a Pac-10 Conference thriller.

In avoiding consecutive losses for the first time this season, Washington State (24-6, 13-5) locked up the second seed for next week's conference tournament.

"We were playing for sole possession of second place and that's important for this program," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. "I wanted our guys to have hunger and want it to catapult us into tournament play."

The victory was anything but easy for the Cougars, who squandered a five-point lead with under two minutes left in regulation and survived a missed free throw by Lodrick Stewart in the waning seconds of the first overtime.

"I just kept saying this is good for us," Bennett said. "This helps us prepare for the tournament."

Baynes, who finished 10-of-10 from the field, threw down a two-handed dunk with 2:04 left in the second extra session to give the Cougars a 79-76 lead. The sophomore scored five points in the second overtime.

Rochestie was even better in the second overtime, making a 3-pointer and going 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Stewart had a chance to put the Trojans up late in first overtime when he was fouled by Kyle Weaver while attempting a 3-pointer with his team trailing, 70-68. But he only managed a pair of makes around a miss.

Stewart scored 22 points, Nick Young 19 Gabe Pruitt had 17 for the Trojans (21-10, 11-7), who have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

"It was certainly a tournament atmosphere," USC coach Tim Floyd said. "Both teams should be proud of themselves."

With 7:11 remaining in regulation, Stewart drained a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 55-51 lead.

The Trojans still held a 57-54 at the 5:15 mark following a tough runner in the lane by Young. But the Cougars used an 8-0 surge in which they held the Trojans scoreless for nearly five minute to take back the lead.

Rochestie's 3-pointer with 1:45 left capped the surge and gave the Cougars a 62-57 advantage.

Keith Wilkinson broke the scoring drought with a dunk with 38 seconds left and Pruitt converted a layup after stealing the inbound pass to make it 64-61.

After Robbie Cowgill and Baynes each split a pair of free throws, Stewart drained a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left to tie it at 64-64.

Stewart scored 13 points in the first half that ended with the Trojans holding a 40-35 lead. USC shot 56 percent (14-of-25) in the session.