COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN -- The Battle of the Palouse is over, and it goes to the Cougars for the 10th consecutive time. We have our capsulated recap after the jump.

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PLAYER OF THE GAME -- Brock Motum's 26 points and nine rebounds shouldn't be overlooked (though it would be kind of hard to overlook those kind of numbers, I suppose). But it was D.J. Shelton who stole the spotlight tonight, scoring seven of his 14 points (tied for a career high) in the final 3:02 to help the Cougars put this one away. Shelton looks like a different player offensively, and he needs to continue to refine his post moves and progress in a way that will allow him to be a legitimate threat against Pac-12 teams. He also had three blocked shots tonight.

PLAY OF THE GAME -- This one's easy. Shelton's 3-pointer with 3:02 remaining seemed to surprise most in the arena, though maybe by now it shouldn't. The 6-foot-10 forward is now 5-of-8 from 3-point range this season, and made two of WSU's three attempts from long range tonight (the Cougars shot just 3-15 from beyond the arc). Anyway, Shelton supplemented the big 3-pointer by adding a couple of nice finishing moves on drives to the basket, putting his stamp on the game's final minutes.

STAT OF THE GAME -- WSU committed only four turnovers, which as Bone noted is especially important in a game that goes down to the wire.

QUOTABLE -- "I think it doubles our power in our frontcourt. There’s two threats inside. D.J.’s shown he can stroke it from the perimeter and also take it off the bounce. It’s hard to guard guys like that. When he takes it off the bounce, my guy steps up and I dish … it’s a good duo down low to complement our guard play." -- Brock Motum on the play of D.J. Shelton

UP NEXT -- Saturday vs. Portland at 7:30 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum. The Pac-12 Network will televise. Portland is 3-3 this season with wins over New Mexico, Portland State and Idaho State.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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