J.T. Terrell skies for two of his 18 points in USC's 71-60 win over Washington Sunday night at Galen Center. (Danny Lee/Neon Tommy)

The junior transfer and his Trojan teammates certainly looked unleashed against the visiting Washington Huskies, as they led from start to finish to secure a 71-60 victory on Sunday at Galen Center. The victory moved the Trojans (11-13, 6-5 Pac-12) into a four-way tie for fifth place in the Pac-12 standings. Washington dropped to 5-6 in conference play.

"Tonight, everybody came out with a tremendous amount of intensity and I think it showed," said Terrell, who led the way for USC with 18 points. "We really needed this win to separate ourselves (in the standings)."

Eric Wise contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, while Dewayne Dedmon added eight points and pulled down nine boards. The Trojans are 4-3 since Cantu assumed head coaching duties, including an upset win over UCLA during that stretch. Cantu credited his players and coaching staff for the team's improvement over the past month.

"It's all about the players. All I'm trying to do is give them some freedom to go play," Cantu said.

The Trojans knocked down seven 3-pointers and converted on 14-of-15 attempts from the free throw line on their way to locking down the first three-game winning streak of the season. The iron was not as kind for Washington as the visitors hit just 4-of-14 from the foul line.

"We've been shooting a lot more during practice," Cantu said. "Guys are playing with confidence and stepping up to the line and making them when they count. That was a huge advantage for us."

The Huskies cut the deficit to 63-58 on a Scott Suggs 3-pointer with 3:33 remaining in regulation. Suggs led all Washington players with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field. Aziz N'Diaye turned in a double-double outing with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies.

Washington leading scorer C.J. Wilcox, who had been averaging more than 18 points per game heading into Sunday's contest, had just eight points on 3-of-7 shooting to go with seven rebounds and six steals.

The Trojans also had a plus-11 advantage in bench scoring thanks to nine points from Omar Oraby and six from guard Chass Bryan, who received praise from his coach for logging crucial minutes as starter Jio Fontan was saddled with foul trouble.

"Chass came in and played with a lot of poise," Cantu said. "The minutes he gave us were so big. He handled the pressure and made big shots."

USC sprinted out to an 18-6 advantage in the first half before the TV timeout and led by as many as 19 points. The Trojans shot 53 percent from the field while holding the Huskies to a 40 percent mark before the intermission.

The Trojans will head for the Bay Area to face Stanford on Thursday and California on Feb. 17. They return home to host rival UCLA on Feb. 24.

Follow more Neon Tommy coverage of USC basketball here.

Reach Staff Reporter Danny Lee here; follow him here.