In showdown with No. 18 Gonzaga, how can WSU clean up the issues that led to a loss to Pacific?

PULLMAN – Shortly after Washington State suffered the worst loss of its season, a home setback at home Thursday night against Pacific, coach David Riley looked exasperated. His Cougars had just lost a Quad 4 game, a serious blow to theirNCAA Tournament chances, and it came on a buzzer-beater.

How did the Cougars let Tigers guard Lamar Washington rack up 40 points, more than his previous three games combined? How did they let a second straight player drop 30-plus on them? Maybe more important, why did WSU continue to show Washington single coverage for much of the game, instead of doubling him?

“We had some times where we were supposed to,” Riley said, “and we were a little bit late – and he’s such a quick player. If you go slow, if you tiptoe into those double teams or different ways that we were trying to put two on the ball, he’s too fast for it to look like you’re even doing it. We were slow on our rotations. We weren’t tight. I did a really bad job of preparing our team in that regard.”

If there’s one thing Riley and the Cougars (13-4, 3-1 WCC) seem sure about, it’s that kind of defense won’t fly Saturday evening against No. 18 Gonzaga (13-4, 4-0). The Zags are a far better team by every measure, and with their 11-game home winning streak, WSU is walking into a much more difficult situation.

It just won’t be for first place in the WCC. The teams were on that kind of collision course earlier this week, but that was before WSU lost to Pacific, which entered No. 310 in the NET rankings. Instead, the Cougars are facing what might be a must-win against the Zags to make up for that loss, to grab one of the three remaining Quad 1 games on the rest of their regular-season schedule.

The loss puts the Cougars’ season in a precarious spot. Only three of the top 62 teams in the NET rankings have a Quad 4 defeat on their ledger. None of the top 53 does. During the last 20 seasons, only one team with a similar resume to Washington State’s made the NCAA Tournament via at-large bid, according to Bart Torvik data: Pittsburgh in 2023.

In simpler terms, Cougars need a win in the worst way Saturday. At the very least, they can’t afford another Quad 4 loss.

Either way, it’s WSU and Gonzaga’s first rivalry renewal since 2015, and the Cougars will have their hands full. The Bulldogs are led by point guard Ryan Nembhard, who is scoring 11.6 points and dishing out 9.6 assists per game, tops in the country; forward Graham Ike, who averages 16.3 points and 7.6 rebounds a game; and guard Khalif Battle, a microwave scorer who is averaging 13.6 points on 37% 3-point shooting.

GU also features forwards Braden Huff and Ben Gregg, who are averaging 11.5 and 10.1 points, respectively. Guard Nolan Hickman, who has scored in double figures just once in his past five games, also features prominently in the Zags’ lineups. There aren’t many holes in the lineups coach Mark Few rolls out.

Gonzaga, which has a 14-3 advantage in the rivlary series since 1998, has won four straight, including six of its past seven. Three of its four losses have come against KenPom top-30 teams, plus a defeat in the Bahamas to West Virginia, which is No. 46.

The Zags and Cougs haven’t met since 2015, when GU earned a 69-60 win, the series going on hiatus since. But with WSU joining the WCC on an affiliate basis for the next two seasons, and Gonzaga joining the rebuilt Pac-12 beginning in 2026, the series is back on, and it’s here to stay.

It doesn’t mean Riley is new to McCarthey Athletic Center. In 2019, when he was a graduate assistant at his previous stop of Eastern Washington, the Eagles walked into The Kennel for a 112-77 loss. More than five years later, Riley still remembers it well, one theme above all.

“The first thing is, it’s loud. I think that’s a big piece of it,” Riley said of Gonzaga’s arena, which is expected to be packed, students returning early from the winter break for the game. “We gotta be able to communicate. We gotta be able to point and talk and get message across. I think that’s No. 1.

“No. 2 is we gotta be consistent. That’s the biggest thing I learned in 2019, is they were just a physical, aggressive team that continued to just be relentless every possession. I think that’s something that they’re gonna do when we go play them, and we just gotta be ready for a full 40-minute game.”

Perhaps one of the biggest ways WSU can turn things around on Saturday: Make free throws. The Cougs did so perfectly in Thursday’s second half, going 16-for-16 from the stripe, only to unravel with a closing 2-for-6 stretch in the extra session. Two misses came from freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson and one apiece came from guard Nate Calmese and wing LeJuan Watts.

Another way: Don’t be afraid to send two at the ball, and be on the same page about doing so. Last weekend, the Cougs limited San Francisco guard Malik Thomas to just seven points in the second half — after a 27-point outburst in the first — by forcing him to give it up and rotating well in 4-on-3 scenarios.

Riley brought up communication in large part because of how much his group struggles with turnovers. On Thursday, WSU lost 18, including 12 in the first half . For the season, the Cougars are committing turnovers on nearly 21% of their possessions, ranking No. 329 nationally. They haven’t found a way to turn that issue around.

If there’s anything resembling a silver lining for WSU, it’s that Gonzaga hasn’t always excelled at generating turnovers on defense. The Bulldogs have done so on 18% of their possessions, middle of the pack nationally. They forced only nine Thursday against San Diego, which ranks near the bottom in the country at taking care of the ball.

But the devil is in the details for the Cougars: Only 1 in 10 turnovers is because the opponent stole the ball – No. 340 nationally – meaning they’re turning it over thanks to bad decisions, often trying to make passes that aren’t there. It’s a bad habit Riley’s team hasn’t found a way to shake.

But above all, Riley wants to see some mental fortitude from his team on Saturday. When the Cougs are playing well, it’s been in part because they’re feeding off each other’s high energy. But when they aren’t, their bad habits start to show.

WSU’s egos were “getting a litte bit big,” Riley said after Thursday’s game. Maybe that’s because of winning, Riley wondered, or maybe it’s because he’s not running effective enough practices.

“There’s a lot of different things that could go into that,” Riley said, “but when we’re pointing fingers and we’re blaming others, I think that shows a little bit of mental weakness. Hopefully this game can make us tougher. We gotta show a lot of mental toughness to go in on Saturday and win a game at Gonzaga, and hopefully we can learn from that. I think that’s something that we’ve done a really good job of, is learning from each of our losses, and that’s gotta be something that we take for the rest of the season.”