THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: WSU might not get away with ugly vs. USC

Their first Pac-12 game was insane.

Having survived it, Wazzu now faces a tall order.

The Cougs, who are projected as an NCAA tournament team by bracketologist Joe Lunardi, entertain No. 20 Southern Cal Saturday at Beasley Coliseum — a game that could seriously help polish their resume.

It’s hard to tell if WSU (6-1) will storm into that Pac-12 matchup bustling with confidence …

Or not.

Yes, they’re already 1-0 in conference play, and have bagged a road victory to boot.

But …

Good grief!

WSU endured a game in Tempe on Wednesday evening that could have set basketball back to the days of James Naismith and his peach baskets.

The Cougs walloped (we’re being facetious) Arizona State 51-29, the Sun Devils’ lowest point total since World War II.

Wait, it was even worse than that.

Wazzu led 18-10 at the half, and you’re not seeing a typographical error.

The two teams combined to go 11 minutes without scoring at one point, which seems almost impossible.

SO, WHAT advice did Smith give to his troops during timeouts, as they were on their way to an 18-for-59 (30.5 percent) shooting night?

“Keep guarding,” he said, unable to keep from smiling.

Smith admitted that he was happy with the defensive effort — and getting leader Noah Williams back from injury — but also confessed he never expected to be part of a game that was quite so strange.

“I was shocked,” he said.

Yep.

In the dreadful first half, which spurred the crowd of 6,793 to lustily boo their Sun Devils, ASU was 4 of 24 from the floor, 2 for 15 on 3-point tries, and (hilariously) missed all six free throw attempts.

These are scholarship athletes, remember.

As you would expect, Arizona State boss Bobby Hurley was appalled by the proceedings.

“It just felt like a circus out there,” he said. “It felt like we were doing bizarre things.”

Hurley summed things up as “epically bad.”

Needless to say, Smith had a rosier way of assessing this strange night in the desert.

“We started out with a 10-0 lead,” he said, “and then …”

“You never expect to score 18 points and be ahead at the half. But then we got about 10 quick points in the second half, and looked a lot better.”

In fact, as ASU continued to miss shots, throw passes to nobody and commit offensive fouls, the Cougs began to play a little ball and hustled out to a 43-20 lead with just over seven minutes remaining to seal the deal.

SMITH HAS no illusions, however, that his team can repeat the ASU performance and beat Southern California.

“They’re a really good, confident team — with several players there who made it to the Elite Eight last year.”

Indeed.

The Trojans are 7-0, having just blown out Utah 93-73 in their Pac-12 opener.

USC lost star Evan Mobley and shooting guard Tahj Eaddy from that NCAA tournament group, but there’s been a serious reloading via the transfer portal.

Transfer Boogie Ellis (Duke) has hit the floor running, and leads the Trojans in scoring at 15.1 points per game, while Evan Mobley’s 6-11 brother Isaiah is still around and chipping in 13.4.

Another wandering newcomer, 6-9 power forward Chevez Goodwin — an arrival by way of the College of Charleston and then Wofford — has tossed in 12.1 per game and is second only to Mobley in rebounding.

USC DOES not look unbeatable, however, having enjoyed a pretty soft schedule so far.

The Trojans also have a glaring weakness, as they’ve converted only 57 percent of 129 free throws.

“We played them pretty well last year,” Smith said. “They’re still long and tall around the rim, so that’s a challenge.”

After that debacle in the desert, Smith fervently hopes his team can play better offensively.

A 2-0 start in the conference would be welcome, especially since the Cougs don’t play another Pac-12 opponent until they meet Washington on Dec. 29.

By then, hopefully, that nonsense at Arizona State can be consigned to the dustbin of history.

But hey, it was a win.

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Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published weekly during the season.