USC vs Washington State Prediction 12/14/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Washington State Cougars and the USC Trojans meet Sunday in college basketball action from Galen Center in Los Angeles. Here’s a USC vs Washington State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best USC vs Washington State pick.

Washington State Cougars Betting Preview

The Cougars started out the year on a .500 clip, losing to Idaho, Davidson and Washington in that time. The wins otherwise were versus St. Thomas-MN, Southern Utah and Chaminade. Washington State has since hit an 0-4 skid, taking losses in succession versus Arizona State, Seton Hall, Bradley and Nevada in that time. That gives the Cougars a 3-7 overall run across their first 10 games of the season.

In their last outing versus Nevada on December 7, the Cougars were up by one point at the break. Washington State hit a 47-32 deficit the rest of the way however, leading to a 78-64 loss in the end. Tomas Valur Thrastarson posted 20 points with five rebounds in the defeat and Rihards Vavers had 12 points. Eemeli Yalaho added 11 points with seven rebounds as well.

USC Trojans Betting Preview

Over on the USC side, they took out Cal Poly, Manhattan, Illinois State and Troy in their first four outings. The Trojans would keep it going with wins over Boise State, Seton Hall, Arizona State and Oregon in the next four. After a loss to Washington, USC managed to beat San Diego in the next game. Over nine outings thus far the Trojans are 9-1 overall.

Matched up against San Diego on Tuesday, the Trojans entered the second half with a 38-38 tie. USC eventually pulled away and won the game 94-81. Leading the team in scoring was Chad Baker-Mazara with 31 points, six rebounds and six assists. Ezra Ausar had 29 points with seven boards and three assists while Jaden Brownell had 16 points in 20 minutes off the bench in the win.

Why the USC Trojans will win

• USC has won each of its last eight games against non-Conference opponents.
• Washington State has lost seven of its last eight games at Galen Center.
• USC has won the first half in 13 of its last 15 games against non-Conference opponents at Galen Center.

Why the Washington State Cougars will win

• Washington State has won four of its last five day games following a home loss.
• USC has lost three of its last four day games at Galen Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Washington State has won the first half in five of its last six day games against non-Conference opponents.

USC vs Washington State Prediction

I’ll probably just stay with USC here. The Trojans started a bit slowly versus San Diego in their latest outing but eventually took the win thanks to 62 percent shooting from the field and 56 percent (9-of-16) from outside. USC managed a 36-32 rebounding edge but did have a sloppy game with a whopping 21 turnovers leading to 26 San Diego points. The Trojans are scoring quite well this year overall; they’ve got 70 or more points in every game and 82 or more in each of their last four wins.

As for Washington State, they had a pretty rough second half against a solid Nevada team in their latest loss. The Cougars managed just 39.2 percent shooting in that one and had 13 turnovers in a 14-point defeat. That makes fewer than 65 points in three straight games (all losses) for the Cougars. If the Trojans get their offense going on Sunday (and cut down on the mistakes), Washington State will have a hard time keeping up.