Thrastarson goes for career-high, Rodriguez asserts himself in WSU’s 81-71 win over St. Thomas

PULLMAN – Before his American college basketball career was two games old, Adria Rodriguez was already beginning to look like a fish out of water. In his debut, a concerning loss for his Washington State club, he scored one point. Later in the week, he managed two, his Cougars dropping another.

Could WSU win with Rodriguez looking like this? Looking gun shy? The Cougars had much bigger problems, falling behind by a big margin early, unable to make defensive stops with anything resembling regularity. But if their starting point guard didn’t feel comfortable shooting and didn’t feel comfortable looking at the basket for too long, their issues could run even deeper.

Rodriguez didn’t exactly pour in the points in WSU’s 81-71 win over St. Thomas on Monday, tallying nine points to propel the Cougars to their first win in three tries to open the season, but he looked far more aggressive on offense. Comfortable. He looked ready to attack the basket at any moment, against any Tommies defender, who looked like they were trying to run underwater against the fleet-footed guard from the Barcelona area.

“That’s perfect for us,” said transfer wing Emmanuel Ugbo, who posted 12 points. “He is the head of the snake on the defensive end and on the offensive end, he’s such a smart player. So if he’s aggressive, and he can make reads off going downhill, I feel like we have such a good offense. It just spreads the offense out and gets him and gets me going.”

Rodriguez totaled nine points on 4-for-5 shooting, even knocking down the first 3-pointer of his career. If he was invisible in WSU’s first two games of the season, setbacks to Idaho and Davidson, he looked more like a shooting star in the third. He handed out four assists, including an over-the-head sling to junior shooter Ri Vavers, who took one side-step dribble and laced it from the left wing. Rodriguez logged 24 minutes, his most in three contests.

With that type of performance, pairing reliable passing with upstart scoring, Rodriguez could change a lot about WSU’s offense. The receipt came in the numbers. In Monday’s game, the Cougars connected on 10 triples, including four from sophomore guard Tomas Thrastarson in a career-high 19-point outing. In their first two times out, the Cougs shot a combined 24% from beyond the arc.

Rodriguez can’t claim all the credit for unlocking WSU’s offense, which shot an efficient 52% from the field in this win over St. Thomas, but his aggressiveness shouldn’t get lost . Late in the first half, jabbed to his right and drove to his left, using his long wingspan to curl a layup under the basket, off the glass and into the net. On a fast break, he let his defender fly by and finished an acrobatic layup, helping stretch the Cougars’ lead to 43-23 toward the end of the first stanza.

Part of the problem in those first two games, WSU coach David Riley reasoned, had to do with the way Rodriguez is adjusting to his new life. He’s living in a new country, Riley mentioned. He’s going to a new school, learning new classes and meeting new people, new teammates, new opponents. “It’s just an exhausting day, every single day,” Riley said. It was clear that while Rodriguez looked plenty capable with the ball in his hands, making the right reads and better passes, he wasn’t ready to call his own number and look to score.

But to earn this win, the Cougs had to get off to a better start. In their loss to Idaho, they trailed by seven before five minutes had passed. In their setback to Davidson, they faced a double-digit deficit before four minutes went by. They fared far better in the second half of each game, which would have kept them in the game otherwise. But the sluggish starts cost WSU.

On Monday, the Cougars (1-2) wiped that trend away with ferocity. They opened on a 10-0 run, beginning with a basket from forward ND Okafor, who totaled 12 points. Then they got eight straight points from Thrastarson, who also looked much more comfortable, but in a different way. He looked like a more willing shooter.

That development could also change the calculus on the Cougars’ season, which is back on track thanks to a more disciplined effort on defense, holding the Tommies to just 41% shooting in the first half. A year ago, in his debut season at WSU, Thrastarson shot 41% on triples, but averaged fewer than one attempt per game. Through three games in his second year, Thrastarson is connecting on 36%, averaging two tries per contest.

“I worked a lot on it during the summer with Pedro and with him, too, in the mornings,” Thrastarson, referencing assistant coach Pedro Garcia Rosado and Ugbo, who was sitting next to him. “I’m much more comfortable.”

WSU now turns its attention to a home matchup with rival Washington, a nonconference affair set for 8 p.m. Friday. After the Cougars’ road loss in Seattle last season, the Huskies are making the return trip in a home-and-home series. In a 2-1 start, including wins over Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Denver and a loss to Baylor, UW looks formidable this winter.

The Cougs are more of a work in progress. But they seem to be opening games with a more serious approach. Ahead of Friday’s game, a certifiably more positive vibe lingers over Riley and his club. It’s certainly extended to Rodriguez, who looks energized, and that could change the trajectory of this WSU season.

“We need that from him, and we’re happy he brought it today,” Ugbo said. “Now we need that every game.”