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WSU Men's Basketball

As WSU gears up for Quad 1 games against Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s, ‘there might be’ a chance Isaiah Watts returns

Washington State head coach David Riley, left, and guard Isaiah Watts watch from the bench during a game against Portland on Saturday at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.  (Geoff Crimmins/For The Spokesman-Review)

PULLMAN – Reinforcements may soon be on the way for Washington State.

Sophomore guard Isaiah Watts, who has been out since Dec. 18 with an injury to his nonshooting right hand, is trending toward a return. WSU visits Santa Clara on Thursday and hosts Saint Mary’s on Saturday, and “there might be” a chance Watts returns for those games, coach David Riley said on Tuesday.

“We’re still waiting on a few things,” Riley said, “but he’s starting to make some progress back.”

Watts injured his hand during WSU’s loss to rival Washington in mid-December, causing him to miss the past eight games, in which the Cougars have gone 6-2. The team’s best perimeter shooter, Watts was averaging 12.5 points on 39% 3-point shooting in 12 games before he went out with the injury, removing a critical scoring punch from the lineup.

On the sidelines during games, Watts has been wearing a protective cover/cast on his left hand. It seems to be covering the entirety of his index finger. The exact nature of the injury has remained unclear, only that it’s on his left hand.

If there was ever a time for Watts to make his return, the depleted Cougars (15-5, 5-2 WCC) might appreciate it most this week. Coming off wins last week over San Diego and Portland, two of the teams in the West Coast Conference’s cellar, WSU is set for two tougher matchups this weekend, visiting the third-place Broncos on Thursday evening.

Both are Quad 1 opportunities for Washington State, which could really use wins to put its one costly loss – a Quad 4 home setback to Pacific earlier this month – in the rearview mirror. Santa Clara (13-7, 5-2) is coming off a road win over Gonzaga, raining 18 triples for 103 points, moving into a three-way tie for third with WSU and GU.

The Cougs, No. 80 in the NET rankings, will have their hands full. They’ll have to keep a close eye on senior guard Tyeree Bryan, who tallied seven treys for 35 points against Gonzaga; senior wing Adama-Alpha Bal, who posted four for 20 points and junior 7-footer Cristoph Tilly, who hit 7 of 9 shots for 17 points, his 10th time scoring in double figures in 11 tries.

But the Broncos, who have won four of their last five, haven’t always been so stellar on the defensive end. They’re allowing opponents to shoot 57% on 2-pointers, ninth in the conference, and their block percentage (5.8) and steal percentage (6.8) both rank 10th. Overall, their defensive efficiency of 102.5 ranks fifth, per KenPom, which also indicates Santa Clara’s defensive turnover percentage of 13.7 ranks 11th.

In that way, it will be critical for WSU to capitalize on offense, especially considering the Cougars have picked things up lately. In their 92-70 win over Portland last weekend, their offense was crisp and on time, coming out to an efficiency ranking of 124.9, per Bart Torvik – their second-best mark all season.

But either way, for WSU, it’s the beginning of a stretch that could make or break this season. Four of the Cougs’ next five games are Quad 1: At Santa Clara on Thursday, home vs. Saint Mary’s on Saturday, at San Francisco on Feb. 1 and at Oregon State on Feb. 6. There’s a Quad 4 game mixed in there, at Pacific on Jan. 30, but two of WSU’s next three games are back to Quad 1: At Saint Mary’s on Feb. 12 and vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 19.

The Cougars might not need to win so many of those games to boost their NCAA Tournament at-large bid resume if not for their home loss to Pacific. But since then, Riley likes to say, he’s seen some meaningful growth from his bunch. In his first season in Pullman, guiding WSU through its first season of WCC membership, he’s learned that matters.

“I think we just gotta go in and do what we’ve been doing,” Riley said. “Have a couple good practices, understand what the game plan is. And I think we gotta attack everyone the same. We’ve talked about our team not having much room for error, and if we’re focused on the external things, then we’re not very good. So we’ve got two great opponents that are playing as good as anyone.”