Cougars likely won’t have DaVonte Lacy for Arizona swing
From Pullman -- As we wrote in yesterday's game story, Davonte Lacy went to the hospital following WSU's pre game shoot around to have surgery for appendicitis. There is no firm timeline for Lacy's recovery, but coach Ken Bone says he has been told anywhere from three days to a few weeks.
Losing Lacy is a big blow to the Cougars. The junior was leading the team with 18.9 points per game, and is considered by the players to be the team's vocal leader. In his absence, freshman Que Johnson was the team's go-to scorer on Saturday, taking 17 shots and scoring 19 points. Bone has said this season that he'd like the scoring load to be distributed more evenly than it has been this season, and that'll probably be the case with Lacy out.
It's an inopportune time for WSU to lose its leading scorer. The Cougars begin Pac-12 play next week at No. 1 Arizona. The undefeated Wildcats are No. 8 in the country in field goal percentage defense, meaning that WSU was going to have to work to score the ball even with Lacy. Now, the team is probably relying on a freshman playing in his first truly hostile environment against an excellent defensive team.
That recipe for disaster isn't exactly a family secret.
Johnson will have some help however. In Saturday's game against Mississippi Valley State, Royce Woolridge and D.J. Shelton combined for 30 points on 12 of 15 shooting. Woolridge especially has been coming on lately, and as had a lot of success driving to the basket. The guard transferred from Kansas and has plenty of experience going up against elite athletes. That experience will be valuable Arizona's Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon, or Jahii Carson and Shaq McKissic of Arizona State.
