WSU fades down the stretch in 64-60 road loss to Bradley, extending losing streak to three

As his freshman season unfolds, Ace Glass finds himself in a curious space. Washington State’s rising star is still green enough to catch some opponents by surprise, which is partially how he erupted for a pair of career-high scoring outings last week, but the opportunities are already dwindling.

Usually, that’s been because opposing defenses are keying on him. In WSU’s 64-60 road loss to Bradley on Tuesday, it was because he couldn’t get on the floor in the final seconds.

As the clock ticked under 20 seconds, the Braves took the lead on a dunk from forward Ahmet Jonovic, who caught defender ND Okafor napping around the basket. As they took over possession, the Cougars and coach David Riley had a timeout available, which he could have used to sub in Glass, the team’s leading scorer on the night, and set up a play – but he opted to let things ride.

In the seconds that followed, WSU couldn’t generate a clean look, ending up with a missed shot from sophomore guard Tomas Thrastarson. Bradley ran things out on the other end, handing WSU its third straight loss.“It’s heartbreaking to lose a game where our issue has been defense the first part of the season, and I felt like we did a pretty good job guarding for the most part,” Riley said in a postgame radio interview. “It just shows you gotta put a complete game together. It’s hard to win when you have 20 turnovers on the road, and foul two 3-point shooters and kinda just make a lot of stupid errors that can’t happen.”

Glass led with 15 points for the Cougs, who also got 10-point outings from Thrastarson, Okafor and Eemeli Yalaho, the latter of whom also added 11 points. But like Riley alluded to, the Cougs also lost 20 turnovers, including 13 in the second half. All told, Bradley turned those mistakes into 23 points.

WSU (3-6) started well, taking a lead as big as nine, erasing the slow starts that have followed the team around in recent games. The Cougars lost only seven turnovers in the first half, and they found ways to stem the tide when the Braves went on runs, which seemed to signal that coaches were helping their guys take the next step in their development.

But after Glass knocked down a corner triple just inside of five minutes to go, capping his stretch of 10 straight points, WSU produced only one more field goal the rest of the game. Bradley ended the game scoring 13 of the final 20 points.

In the final seconds, the Cougars couldn’t get Glass on the floor because Riley had begun subbing him out on defense. The Braves were targeting Glass on that end, going after the smaller guard, though he didn’t commit a single foul. But it was clear that Riley sensed a weak link on that end of the floor, so he pulled Glass from the action to protect him on defense, at least in the final minutes.

That’s why Glass was on the bench for the Cougars’ final offensive possession. Riley had a chance to call a timeout and get him in the game. In last week’s Maui Invitational, Glass set a program record for freshmen scoring 40 points. That came a day after he tallied 26. Early on in the season, Glass has emerged as the team’s best scorer, using his tight handle and reliable jumper to create his own shots.

But he didn’t get a chance to show it on WSU’s last trip down the floor on offense.

“We gotta get our nervous system ready to fire right from the jump, for 40 straight minutes, and we’re still not there,” said Riley, whose team returns to action on Sunday to host Nevada. “We can’t focus and have that desperation for 40 minutes that we need to go win these games.”

After a promising stretch in which they took care of the ball relatively well, the Cougs reverted back to their turnover habits of last season, when they committed a turnover on nearly a fifth of their possessions. Point guard Adria Rodriguez, who has now come off the bench in favor of Glass in three straight games, lost five turnovers. Glass and guard Jerone Morton coughed up four apiece.

In short, that’s how WSU can take an early lead, only to watch it vanish when it mattered most.

After the game, Riley made no bones about the reason his team lost, which came down to turnovers and a few late defensive lapses, including leaving Bradley guard Demarion Burch open for a game-tying triple with a shade over a minute left. But Riley also touched on the impact of he team’s travel schedule, which included a Thanksgiving week trip to Maui and this trip to Peoria, Illinois, for Tuesday’s game.

“We were in Hawaii six days ago, and we’re taking buses at 1 a.m. through the snow in Peoria,” Riley said. “There is some fatigue there, and that wears on you mentally a little bit. But we got tough kids. We got good kids that have played at different levels where this is as nice as it gets right here.

“I’m the same way. This is amazing how we get treated at Washington State, and the way we’re able to travel in the hotels we’re able to stay in. I don’t want to sound like a prima donna, but there is some wear and tear on them.”