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WSU Men's Basketball

Washington State rolls past Loyola Marymount 94-77 in WCC Tournament opener

Washington State Cougars forward Ethan Price (3) and guard Isaiah Watts (12) bump chests in celebration of defeating the Loyola Marymount Lions late during the second half of a college basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. The Saint Mary
Washington State Cougars forward Ethan Price (3) and guard Isaiah Watts (12) bump chests in celebration of defeating the Loyola Marymount Lions late during the second half of a college basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash. The Saint Mary's Gaels won the game 74-67. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Greg Woods gregw@spokesman.com(509) 459-5587

LAS VEGAS — On almost too many occasions to count, Washington State watched some of its worst habits creep to the surface in Saturday’s WCC Tournament third-round affair with LMU.

The sixth-seeded Cougars got into foul trouble early in the second half. They turned it over a couple times in a row. They failed to hit the glass on missed shots and their free throw shooting issues all but capsized, leaving 12 points on the table all told.

But WSU is moving on to play San Francisco in Sunday’s quarterfinals because in this 94-77 win over seventh-seeded LMU, the Cougars had an answer every time their bad habits bubbled up, every time the Lions put together some momentum. It must have been a beautiful sight to head coach David Riley, whose group got a game-best 22 points points apiece from Nate Calmese and Ethan Price, plus 16 more from Ri Vavers, who netted his career-high in a crimson uniform.

WSU and third-seeded San Francisco are set for an 8 p.m. tip-off on Sunday.

“We just got back into our flow and went back up 20, whatever that was,” Calmese said. “I think this team is maturing really well. Over these last couple weeks, it’s been hard, so I think we’ve just been learning really well, and we’re just gonna keep growing over these next couple days.”

“The two things we’ve been preaching for the last few weeks: to just make sure that we’re flying around and competing and playing together,” Riley said. “I thought that showed tonight. We had 26 assists. We beat them on the glass against a really physical, veteran team. And when we look like that, we’re pretty tough to beat.”

The Cougars, who led by as many as 16 in the first half, saw their advantage slashed to eight at the intermission. But WSU opened the second stanza on an 11-1 run, getting one 3-pointer apiece from Calmese, Isaiah Watts and LeJuan Watts, plus a scoop layup from Calmese. That restored WSU’s lead to 58-40.

Later in the second half, the Lions scored eight straight points, drawing with 12 with a shade over 10 minutes to play — only for the Cougs to respond with an 8-2 surge, upping their lead to 58-40. That run included treys from Calmese and Vavers as well as a leakout dunk from Isaiah Watts, the beneficiary of a sharp pass from Calmese, who also totaled seven assists.

The Cougs are also getting a meaningful lift from Vavers, who has been in and out of the lineup with various hand injuries, at one point breaking bones in both of them. Across his last four games, though, he’s now connected on 12 of 16 shots from deep for 42 total points. He hit 4 of 5 for 16 points on Saturday, spacing the floor for players like Calmese, Price and LeJuan Watts, who added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Vavers has now recorded his WSU career-high in scoring in each of his last two games, posting 12 points in a win over Pepperdine last weekend and 16 against LMU on Saturday. In one sequence Saturday, he pulled down a pair of offensive rebounds on one possession. Seconds later, Calmese found him open on the perimeter, where he cashed in.

“The guys get me going. They found me,” Vavers said. “I just gotta knock them down. Shoutout to Nate and LeJuan. They’ve been finding me every time.”

“You can look at the 3s, and he is a great shooter,” Price added, “but for him to come in and grab three O-boards, I think that’s a game-changer for us, as well for him to be able to knock down shots. It adds a whole other kinda look to our team.”

In the final 90 seconds of this one, a bit of drama ensued. As forward WSU ND Okafor raised up for a short floater, his defender, Alex Merkviladze, appeared to shout, “hell nah.” The ball swished through the net, which prompted Okafor to share a few words with Merkviladze on the way back down the floor, and a few seconds later the two came face-to-face. That’s when Okafor gave Merkviladze a bit of a head-butt, which officials gave him a flagrant 2 for, ejecting him from the game.

Okafor will be eligible for Saturday’s game, officials confirmed, an encouraging sign for WSU. But in the immediate aftermath of the play, Riley became animated on the sideline, trying to snap his players out of focusing on the flagrant.

“Really, I just wanted our team to have energy,” Riley said. “We talked yesterday — whenever we get a stop, to make sure that we’re the loudest bench, that we’re celebrating, that we’re connected. We got a stop right there. Our bench wasn’t like hyped for it. They were thinking about whatever just happened with ND.

“And I just wanted make sure that we’re staying in the moment. This thing is too fragile right now for us to think about anything else than the fact that we just got to stop. And for whatever reason, it turned into way more than me celebrating a stop. It was kinda cool to see.”

On Sunday, WSU is also getting a shorthanded San Francisco team, which is playing without first-team all-conference guard Marcus Williams, who has been suspended from playing due to an NCAA rules violation. In USF’s home win over WSU on Feb. 1, Williams totaled 17 points on a pair of triples.

It sets up what could be a promising path for WSU. To ensure it stays that way, the Cougars would do well to continue playing like they did on Saturday, erasing mistakes with more promising stretches.