‘Hopefully, we’re peaking at the right time’: Washington State hitting stride heading into NIT quarterfinal at BYU
In the first two rounds of the NIT, Washington State’s men’s basketball team registered arguably its two most impressive wins of the season.
The Cougars are healthy and making steady progress down the stretch of this season – easily the program’s best in a decade.
“I’ve been saying it and hopefully I’m right – we’ve been playing better, getting better and if we went into June, if we were on an NBA schedule, we might be really good,” coach Kyle Smith said during a news conference Tuesday.
WSU (21-14) has a trip to Madison Square Garden on the line when it meets BYU at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, for a quarterfinal matchup in the NIT.
Based on the NCAA’s NET rankings, the Cougars are coming off their two strongest outings of the year: postseason victories over SMU and Santa Clara. WSU’s defense stole the show in a 63-50 win over Santa Clara on March 15 in Pullman. The Cougars’ considerable advantage in the post was too much for the No. 1-seeded Mustangs to overcome in a 75-63 WSU triumph on Sunday in Dallas . WSU committed just nine turnovers and fending off a late SMU rally.
“Obviously, we played really well at SMU, broke their 19-game winning streak (at home) and it seemed like our best win of the season,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we’re peaking at the right time.
“We’ve talked about it all year – playing our best now, and we’ve been getting better in certain areas. First of all, health. … We’ve got nine guys who are playing and that’s giving us depth. At this time of the year, that’s important.”
The Cougars battled injuries throughout the year. Smith expected his team to experience some growing pains, considering all the new pieces on their roster.
But WSU is hitting its stride at the ideal moment and, considering its most recent performance, appears primed to make a run to New York City.
Standing in the way are the Cougars from BYU (24-10), who finished fifth in the ever-improving West Coast Conference. BYU started its season 7-0 and has logged major wins this year over NCAA Tournament qualifiers San Diego State, San Francisco and Saint Mary’s. A four-game slide late in the season and a loss to USF in the quarterfinals of the WCC Tournament wiped away BYU’s shot at March Madness.
BYU routed Big West regular-season champion Long Beach State to open the NIT, then cruised past Northern Iowa – the Missouri Valley Conference’s regular-season champion. In terms of NIT strength of schedule, WSU has the edge.
The visiting Cougars have the edge in length, too, though Smith noted that BYU’s physical play in the paint will be “tricky” to combat.
Still, WSU’s standout trio of posts in Efe Abogidi, Dishon Jackson and Mouhamed Gueye matches up well with a BYU frontcourt that gives up height for brawn. Forwards Caleb Lohner (6-8, 235 pounds), a sophomore, and freshman Fousseyni Traore (6-6, 254) lead BYU underneath.
“Sometimes the height isn’t as important as your width,” Smith noted. “If we don’t give up angles, (Traore) should have a hard time finishing over our length around the rim. … Our length defensively should do well.
“(Lohner) is a good post defender. He’s strong and athletic. I think Santa Clara was longer and not as strong, so we had success there, and SMU didn’t have any real size. … This’ll be a bigger challenge for the strength of our team.”
Abogidi is averaging 13 points per game over his past five, and Jackson has provided a physical presence after missing 10 games midway through the season because of an eye injury. Gueye is working his way back to full health after an ankle injury sidelined him for the Pac-12 Tournament.
“Having the three bigs (is important) – for a certain level of physicality and always being big and athletic out there,” Smith said.
Pacing BYU are veterans Alex Barcello (16.9 points per game) and Te’Jon Lucas (10.6 ppg), both of whom are smaller, quicker guards.
According to statistician Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, BYU ranks 41st nationally in offense and 56th on defense. WSU stands at 84th and 27th, respectively.
BYU is 13-2 this season at home. Smith is no stranger to the Marriott Center, having spent three seasons as a WCC coach in charge of USF’s program.
“The environment, coaching here, it helps, because it’s one of the tougher environments to play in, in the country,” he said.
WSU is riding momentum and has every reason to feel confident coming into this contest. Smith has been pleased with the poise the Cougars have exhibited throughout their first national postseason appearance since 2012, when they advanced to the finals of the CBI before falling to Pitt.
It starts with senior point guard Michael Flowers, WSU’s team captain who paces the team with 14.1 ppg. He scored 22, including a game-sealing 3-pointer, in the win over SMU.
“He really wants to advance as far as we can and he played great in the last game,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we’re rested up and we can handle this moving forward.
“That’d be a heck of an honor if we could get to New York.”
Smith on Abogidi’s highlight-reel dunk
Abogidi took flight and threw down a thunderous one-handed jam late in the Cougars’ win Sunday. The spectacular dunk checked in at No. 1 on SportsCenter Top 10 that night.
“I haven’t seen many bigger or better,” Smith said. “The coach in me is terrible. The fan in me wanted to jump, but the coach in me was like, ‘I’m ready for a charge.’ … Thank goodness (it wasn’t). … I can’t think of any better dunk that I’ve been witness to, really at any level.”