WSU snaps five-game skid with 78-63 win over Eastern Washington in Spokane
Over the last several days, a haze lingered over Washington State’s basketball team. The Cougars were losing, sure, a five-game skid that featured some bad hoops. But in perhaps a more concerning development for the team, another possibility was beginning to set in.
Was this turning into a dud of a season for WSU?
With a 78-63 win over Eastern Washington Wednesday night in Spokane, the Cougars did their part to turn that trend around. Transfer wing Emmanuel Ugbo tallied 20 points and freshman guard Ace Glass added 14 for WSU, which looked bigger, faster, stronger and played accordingly. The Cougs led by as many as 19, leading by double digits for much of the night.
“Really proud of these guys,” WSU coach David Riley said. “We’ve had a tough few weeks, and I think these guys have learned a lot. We’ve seen a lot of growth from this group that didn’t necessarily translate to wins, and I think we found an opportunity here where we were able to get stops, and these guys played hard. I was proud to look down the line the stat sheet, and we had a bunch of guys step up,
WSU (4-8), which also got 12 points from forward ND Okafor, played some of its best defense of the season. The Cougs held the Eagles to just 38% shooting, including a 5-for-23 mark from distance. WSU parlayed 12 EWU turnovers into 19 points, piling up 15 fastbreak points.
All told, eight players scored for the Cougs, who enjoyed a spread out scoring night. Ri Vavers, Jerone Morton and Tomas Thrastarson tallied seven points apiece. That was enough to help Riley take down his old EWU squad for the second straight season, winning the first game in the newly minted 509 Classic.
Freshman guard Ace Glass also snapped out of a funk that spanned a couple weeks, tallying 14 points on an efficient 6-for-11 outing from the field. Since he erupted for 40 points at the Maui Invitational, breaking a program record for single-game scoring by a freshman, he rocketed up opponents’ scouting reports. He was able to tread water for the next couple games – he scored 15 points apiece against Seton Hall and Bradley – but that’s about when things really went south for him.
In WSU’s home loss to Nevada earlier this month, Glass registered 10 points on 14 shots, making just three. Then this weekend, in the Cougars’ road loss to USC, he managed only three points on seven shots. This much was clear: He was still finding his way as a freshman. And opponents were treating him with reverence, swarming his driving angles and closing out hard on the perimeter.
In Wednesday’s game, Glass got a chance to re-establish his scoring savvy against an overmatched team, and he cashed in. He looked comfortable stepping into open 3-pointers. He finished with a deft touch over taller defenders in the paint. And perhaps most important: He didn’t force anything, getting to his spots and playing his game.
“Me and D-Ri have been talking about that a lot,” Glass said. “I know they’re gonna be five-out doubling me, so hitting the fade pass, the slip passes to create for others and then getting mine back on the second actions or third actions.”
Riley framed Glass’ recent stretch this way: He believes in Glass’ potential, both as a college player and a potential pro, which will in turn help the Cougars’ team blossom. To facilitate that growth and pull Glass out of his recent funk, Riley said, he could call all manner of set plays and give Glass one read.
“That’s not what’s gonna make him successful as a pro. That’s not what’s gonna make our team successful,” Riley said. “And so he had to learn those lessons through the fire, like, you don’t just get to come off staggers and be open, because they have a game plan for that. You’re at the top of the scouting report. Every ball screen, they’re gonna probably trap. You’ve shown that you can come off ball screens and shoot. I’m not gonna manipulate that much on the offensive end for him, because of the way we play, and at the end of the day, it’s gonna help him.”
The Cougs were rarely in danger of losing this one. They raced to an 11-2 start, one of their best of the season after a string of slow ones, and they looked energized. Ugbo, who suffered an ankle injury last month and saw his minutes decrease as he worked his way back to full health, looked like his best self. He finished strong at the basket. Didn’t settle for shots outside his sweet spots.
In short, the Cougs needed to look the way they did in this win, needed to impose their wills. Many of the Eagles’ players are playing their first seasons of Division-I ball. Their roster includes transfers from the D-III ranks, the NAIA ranks and junior colleges.
Even that group gave the Cougars a bit of a scare, using a full-court press to draw within nine with a shade under three minutes to go. A couple of the Cougs’ 15 turnovers happened in that span. But WSU generated enough shotmaking to put things away.
Ahead of a home matchup against Mercer on Saturday, WSU has also now held three of its last four opponents under 70 points. Earlier in the season, the Cougars were giving up 80-point games with regularity. Riley’s bunch seems to be on the right in that department, rising out of a fog that hovered over the team in previous weeks.