Tale of the tape: UW 64, WSU 62

COUGARS

FROM LAS VEGAS — It's extremely late, but we do have our tale of the tape to pass along. Read on.

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PLAYER OF THE GAME — Hard to say it wasn't Brock Motum, who scored 28 points in his final game as a Cougar. Eight of those points came during WSU's 15-0 run to erase UW's lead and tie the game inside the final three minutes. Motum shot 11-of-19 from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and said he thought he was fouled on his final 3-point attempt on WSU's last possession. He finishes his career as the school's 5th-leading scorer.

PLAY OF THE GAME — Might as well go with that last possession for WSU. Motum and D.J. Shelton both thought there should have been a foul called, though the opinions from the UW side obviously differ. I've yet to see a replay, so it's hard to say. Regardless of the no-call, it was the game's biggest possession — WSU down by two points, the ball in its best player's hands, time winding down. The Cougars just couldn't make it happen. That might be the theme of the season.

STAT OF THE GAME — Motum, Shelton and Royce Woolridge combined to shoot 22-of-42 from the field. The rest of their teammates combined to shoot just 1-of-8. That one make was a 3-pointer by Will DiIorio, and it didn't come until 32 minutes had passed. Abdul Gaddy's 11 assists also stand out.

QUOTABLE — “You know what, I’m not too concerned. I’m just not too concerned about that. I think we’ve done a good job and decisions will be made whether it’s this year or next year or the following year. It’s out of my control, so I’m not going to worry about things that are out of my control. Just going to keep doing the best I can.” — WSU coach Ken Bone, asked if he's worried about keeping his job.

“I think there’s not many teams I can think of that I’ve played on, or that I’ve seen play, that lose however many games and still be in them and all and be so close. And win the UCLA and USC games after losing 9 straight. I think a lot of teams could have thrown in the towel and lost 3 or 4 straight and called it a day.” — Brock Motum, on the nature of this year's team

“I still appreciate this year and everyone that was on the team and the coaches. We’ve got a lot to look for next year. I’m excited. We’ve got Royce coming back, myself, DaVonte. So I mean, this is just a big learning experience. I expect to come out my senior year and be hot and do anything I can to get this team to the ncaa tournament.” — D.J. Shelton

“It’s happened quite a bit this year, and I think the really good teams around the country win those games. This year, we were not a really good team.” — Bone, on losing close games

“I love those guys. Appreciate them. Great leaders and as good of basketball players as they are, Mike Ladd coming back out here with a torn tendon to try to help us win a couple games at the end. Those guys are the epitome of team guys. Their leadership as captains and quality of character as they are, we will miss them immensely. But they’re going to be very very successful in life, which is more important than this.” — Bone on seniors Motum and Mike Ladd

UP NEXT — Next season.

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