USC Basketball: WSU Coach Joked To Trojan After Loss, "You Didn't Deserve" To Win

Fair?

Your USC Trojans men's basketball team haven't done a lot of winning this season.

The club is 12-17 (6-12 in the Pac-12) on the year, and has been stumbling towards the finish line of the 2023-24 NCAA regular season with slim hopes of making the Big Dance (it would have to win the Pac-12 Tournament to compete in March Madness).

As captured by Greg Woods of The Spokesman-Review in the video below, Washington State University head coach Kyle Smith revealed a fun interaction with fifth-year USC forward DJ Rodman following the Trojans' come-from-ahead 75-72 loss to his team last week. Rodman transferred from Washington State to USC this offseason, in a move he may well regret.

WSU is the No. 19 seed in the NCAA, sporting a 23-7 record (14-5 in the conference), and seems poised to go on a deep postseason run.

WSU coach Kyle Smith says he told former Coug forward DJ Rodman “you didn’t deserve this win” with a laugh pic.twitter.com/ovccvIk0qx

— Greg Woods (@GregWWoods) March 1, 2024

"I said, 'Thank god you didn't get that win, you didn't deserve it,' Smith joked. "But he's a good kid, and [he] actually gave me a little dap on the way out."

The Cougars had trailed your Trojans by as much as 12 points late into the game's opening half, and didn't have their first actual scoring edge until less than three minutes remained in regulation. But USC couldn't ultimately contain WSU's three-point shooting advantage. Washington State went 10-of-20 from long range, a huge uptick from USC's 2-of-10 shooting from distance.

In 33 minutes, Rodman (who was booed frequently in his return to Washington State) finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, five rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist.