Washington State grinds out wire-to-wire Pac-12 Tournament win over sloppy-shooting Cal
LAS VEGAS – Washington State couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half. Cal couldn’t seem to hit a shot all night.
It wasn’t pretty, but the seventh-seeded Cougars leaned on their defense and grinded out a wire-to-wire victory to open their stay at the Pac-12 Tournament, topping the No. 10-seeded Golden Bears 66-59 on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“We were just a little tight,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said. “We haven’t played in the postseason. This group’s pretty new. We know you have to defend, rebound and take care of the ball to give yourself a chance to win.”
WSU (19-13) shot just 26% from the floor after halftime. Cal (12 of 20) was limited to 31.3% on the game and trailed by 12 at halftime after shooting 8 of 35 (22.9%) in the first half.
The Bears trimmed the deficit to four points midway through the second period but failed to sustain any trace of offensive life against a disciplined Cougars zone and didn’t get any closer than two possessions away.
Cal trailed by three or more possessions for about 25 minutes and fell to 0-3 versus WSU this season.
“We’ve had some success playing zone against (Cal),” Smith said. “Once we had some success, we stayed with it.
“We were in good position. … We were rotating well.”
WSU, while ice cold from the field, went 18 of 21 from the free-throw line in the second to preserve a relatively comfortable lead. In all, the Cougars went 20 of 23 (87%) from the charity stripe, setting a program record for highest free-throw percentage in a Pac-12 tourney game.
Junior Cougars guard Tyrell Roberts scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half. He knocked down his first four field-goal attempts out of halftime while all of his teammates started 0 of 18 in the second half.
WSU big man Efe Abogidi outjumped his frontcourt defenders and posted 19 points. He poured in eight consecutive points over a 3-minute spree late in the first to boost the Cougars to their sizable halftime advantage.
“Those two guys kind of bailed us out,” Smith said.
The Cougars were playing without standout freshman post Mouhamed Gueye, who was nursing an ankle injury. He’s questionable to return for Thursday’s game against UCLA, scheduled for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
Point guard Michael Flowers and defense-oriented guard TJ Bamba scored 12 points apiece. Forwards Andrej Jakimovski and DJ Rodman pulled down 10 and eight rebounds, respectively. Center Dishon Jackson matched a career high with five blocks.
Cal piled up 21 offensive rebounds to prevent a runaway WSU win. The Bears’ size gave the WSU offense fits, but WSU also missed a handful of clean looks at the rim.
“They bothered us with their physicality and they got on the glass,” Smith said. “But our defense was really good. We did a decent job taking care of the ball and we were able to make free throws.
“That gives us a chance this time of the year.”
The Bears were often forced to settle for difficult shots inside the arc. Their 31.3% mark from the floor was their second-lowest percentage of the season and the fourth-lowest field-goal percentage allowed in a game this year by WSU.