‘It should be a springboard for us’: Ascending Washington State looks to continue upward trajectory in NIT semis versus red-hot Texas A&M

NEW YORK – If the Washington State Cougars continue on this trajectory into next season and beyond, they won’t be returning to the Big Apple.

They’ll be making trips to the Big Dance.

If they keep trending upward like they have been in recent weeks, the Cougs will look back at their run through the NIT as a jumping-off point.

“It really solidifies our program in a lot of ways,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said Monday of his team’s march to the semifinals of the 32-team tournament. “We’ve talked about being a postseason team every year, and being able to play in March.

“To be able to persevere and win (in the postseason), it just means a lot and I think, obviously, it should be a springboard for us.”

They still have a shot at collecting hardware – a rarity for the program – but no matter the outcome this week, this season should be viewed as a tremendous success for the Cougars, who certainly look the part of an NCAA Tournament-caliber team right now.

So do their opponents: the top-seeded Aggies of Texas A&M.

The red-hot teams square off at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in the semifinal round of the NIT. The victor will face the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal matchup between Xavier and St. Bonaventure on Thursday in the title game.

WSU (22-14), competing in its first national postseason tourney in a decade, blew past its first three postseason foes – stomping Santa Clara, SMU and BYU by double digits – to clinch its second appearance in the NIT semis.

“I think we’re more than capable,” Smith said. “We’ve been a little bit of that team this year – when we’ve been good, we’ve been really good. We’ve had some droughts and spots where, either because of COVID or injuries, we haven’t been at our best. I think we’re 14-3 when we have a full roster.

“We’re pretty healthy right now and that helps a lot, especially having depth this late in the season. Playing eight or nine guys quite a bit in a tournament setting, that gives you a little bit of an advantage.”

WSU has removed any doubt that this is the program’s best campaign since 2011, when the Klay Thompson-led Cougars had their stay in New York City cut short with an NIT semifinal loss to Wichita State.

With a victory, WSU would secure its highest single-season win total in 15 years. Coach Tony Bennett took the 26-win Cougs to the Sweet 16 in 2008.

“Expectations will be higher (going forward), which is good – you want to be able to play with those,” said Smith, whose team entered this season considered by many college hoops pundits to be a dark-horse NCAA Tournament contender.

“We played with some high expectations this year and some people will say we didn’t live up to them. But we didn’t have anything to fall back on. It’s not like we’d been a postseason team or finished in the top half of the Pac-12. We hit a lot of landmarks this year. Hopefully, our program and our people in it are creating expectations for ourselves.”

Inspired by their exclusion from the NCAA tourney field, the Aggies (26-12) are rolling through the NIT. They breezed past Alcorn State, Oregon and Wake Forest. Third-year coach Buzz Williams gave an eight-minute speech to media members after Round 1, slamming the NCAA Tournament selection committee for snubbing Texas A&M.

The former Virginia Tech and Marquette coach may have a point. His Aggies registered six wins over eventual NCAA tourney qualifiers this year, and bounced heavyweights Auburn and Arkansas from the SEC tournament before losing to Tennessee in the conference championship.

Counting NIT contests, Texas A&M has won 10 of its past 11 after an eight-game losing streak that all but eliminated the squad from March Madness consideration.

“They got a huge chip on their shoulder,” Smith said. “They feel like they deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament and they’re playing with an edge to prove to everyone that the committee was wrong. And they’ve been playing really well. We’re going to have to hang on to our guts. We’ll see how tough we are.

“(Williams) got them to where they’re playing their best ball right now,” the third-year WSU coach added. “We’re kinda similar in that way. We had a little rough patch (in February) where we lost five in a row … but we were able to keep it together. It would’ve been easy to fold, but our guys wanted to keep it going and gear up to play their best basketball at this time of the year.”

The iconic stage of MSG and bright lights of Manhattan won’t throw the Cougs off. Smith said they’ve “stayed in the zone” throughout their fun-filled stay in the Big Apple and they have embodied composure during the tourney by virtue of the “leadership and calm demeanor” of senior point guard Michael Flowers, who’s been a central figure in the program’s maturation this season.

“He’s playing to win a championship. We all are, but it’s his last go-round,” Smith said. “He’s keeping everyone together. I could see where if you’re a younger guy, you get very excitable being here, but I think we’ve kept even-keeled.”

The Aggies sit at No. 40 nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, while WSU checks in at No. 37. Texas A&M is a slight favorite, per several betting outlets. Both teams rank in the upper echelons nationally in the defensive efficiency column on KenPom.com.

NOTABLE: There are eight teams remaining in the NCAA’s two main postseason tournaments. WSU is the only one from the West.

WSU team features New York flavor

Smith spent six seasons at the helm of the hoops program at Columbia, located just 6 miles north of MSG. He played college basketball for Division III Hamilton in Upstate New York. Several of his staffers grew up around the New York City metropolitan area or spent time near it.

Assistant Derrick Phelps was a prep star at Christ the King in Queens and was named a McDonald’s All-American before a fruitful collegiate career at North Carolina. He helped the Tar Heels to a national title in 1993. Fellow assistant John Andrzejek is a New York native and a Columbia graduate.

WSU coordinator of operations Anthony Lorenzo and grad assistant Steve Frankoski both hail from the New Jersey side of the NYC metro area. Frankoski played at Columbia and Lorenzo had coaching stints at D-III Rutgers-Newark and Centenary University in New Jersey.

Sophomore guard TJ Bamba is originally from the Bronx. He moved to Denver for high school.

The Cougs took some time to sightsee this week, and attended a Brooklyn Nets game Sunday night. Acclaimed NYC-based recording artist Jadakiss even stopped by one of their practices.

“We’re trying to balance between getting ready for the game and enjoying the New York City experience,” Smith said.