Washington State’s postseason hopes in doubt after upset loss to Arizona State
PULLMAN – Washington State wasted a couple of opportunities at forcing overtime and – barring an exceptional finish to its season – may have thrown away its chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
At the least, the Cougars put their postseason prospects in serious doubt with a 58-55 Pac-12 loss Saturday to lowly Arizona State at Beasley Coliseum.
With WSU trailing by three, guard Tyrell Roberts forced up a contested 3-point attempt, which missed the mark with about 5 seconds left. The Cougars got another try when ASU guard DJ Horne stepped out of bounds while trying to run out the clock, but the inbounds play wasn’t there for the Cougs. Guard Noah Williams’ downcourt pass soared above its intended target and was picked by the Sun Devils.
The Cougars (14-9, 7-5) routed ASU (8-15, 4-9) earlier this season in Tempe, Arizona, behind a dominant defensive effort, prevailing 51-29 – the fewest points WSU’s program has permitted in Pac-12 play.
But the stops didn’t come down the stretch this time for the Cougs, who absorbed a big blow to their tourney resume with a Quadrant 3 defeat. They’ll likely have to upset a few highly ranked opponents late this season and make some noise in the Pac-12 Tournament if they have any designs at being considered for the Big Dance.
Coach Kyle Smith addressed his team’s outside expectations and the notion this season among some fans and media members that the Cougs have “arrived” in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
“Clearly, we haven’t,” he said. “You gotta prove yourself.”
WSU matched its worst shooting night of the season, going 18 of 59 (30.5%) from the field. The Cougars went 1 of 15 from the floor over the final 9:44 of the first half and didn’t score in the second half until 5 minutes had passed.
“We just didn’t have enough juice, didn’t play hard enough,” Cougars coach Kyle Smith said.
The Sun Devils built an eight-point lead before WSU’s offense woke up and made a push with about 8 minutes remaining.
Just as the shots began to fall, the Cougars lost steam on defense. They cut the deficit to one point after Roberts’ back-to-back 3s with less than 3 minutes left, yet couldn’t swing the momentum and never regained the lead late. ASU quickly boosted its advantage to six.
WSU guard Michael Flowers hit a nervy 3 with 45 seconds to play before WSU squandered its last two possessions.
“They were the more competitive team. They took it to us a little bit,” Smith said. “We showed some resiliency … but you’d like to think we’d compete a little better to start the second half.”
WSU went into the halftime locker room with a 29-27 lead despite its severe shooting slump.
ASU trailed by as many as six points midway through the first thanks to a Cougars spurt highlighted by a high-flying Mouhamed Gueye alley-oop and a deep 3-pointer from TJ Bamba after three offensive rebounds.
The opponents got off to fast starts, but both began to lapse on offense and combined for just 19 points over the last 10 minutes of the half – ASU outscored WSU 10-9 in a choppy stretch of play featuring 10 total turnovers and five made field goals.
The Cougars started 3 of 4 from distance but finished the first half 5 of 18 from beyond the arc.
The teams failed to score for the first 4 minutes out of halftime and combined for six short misses and six turnovers in that span. ASU made 5 of 6 field-goal attempts over the next 3 minutes to go in front, where the Devils stayed.
Freshman big man Gueye led WSU with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Roberts totaled 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
Sun Devils guards Jalen Graham and Marreon Jackson responded consistently to Cougar baskets in the second half with field goals and scored 14 points apiece. ASU shot 49% to make up for its 19 turnovers.