Eemeli Yalaho scores career-high as WSU cruises to 104-74 win over Portland

PULLMAN – About a month ago, in a circular arena just off Portland’s Willamette River, David Riley had to coach his you-know-what off. His Washington State team was down eight to Portland, and the more the Cougars scuffled on offense, the more their head coach looked like he was searching for answers his team didn’t have.

Things began to turn with about eight minutes left, when the visitors put together a game-changing run, taking control for good. Ri Vavers hit a critical 3-pointer. Ace Glass scored in double figures as he usually does. And even after they grabbed the game’s reins, the Cougars had to hang on for dear life, letting the Pilots generate a furious rally in the final moments.

After the final buzzer sounded on that game, a close win for WSU, Riley looked exasperated. Four weeks later, he could have kicked his feet up and sipped a Mai Tai in the teams’ next meeting, a blowout 104-74 win for the Cougars, who have now won three straight in a crucial part of their schedule.

“I thought it was a really good game for our guys to kinda take that next step as a team,” said Riley, whose team scored the program’s most points in a regulation game at Beasley Coliseum since 1994. “Just proud of the way that we’re coming together. Twenty-six assists is a hell of a number. Did a good job getting a lead in that first half and staying with it in the second half. Just gotta keep growing and keep getting better.”

The Cougars (11-13, 6-5 WCC) played game without forward Emmanuel Ugbo, who is suspended for violating team rules, Riley said after the game. Asked to elaborate on the reason for Ugbo’s suspension, Riley declined to give further details. He also did not say how long Ugbo’s suspension is expected to last, saying, “We’ll get an update on the longevity of that here as soon as we can.”

What does this win mean for WSU? For one, the Cougars took care of business, dispatching a Pilot group that looked overmatched. But they also looked like a wholly different team on offense, getting a career-high 26 points from forward Eemeli Yalaho and 18 from wing Ri Vavers, who has now connected on 16 of his last 29 shots from beyond the arc, a blistering 55% clip.

Perhaps most importantly, the Cougars shared the ball. Guard Adria Rodriguez handed out nine assists, by far his career-high, and Glass dished out seven, also a career-high. All told, WSU registered 26 assists on 36 made shots, which might signal what Riley has longed for: The Cougs’ motion offense, a read-and-react system that hinges on making quick decisions, might finally be coming together.

Is it sustainable? It helps to play an outclassed team, sure. But even without a key rotation player in Saturday’s game, the Cougars swung the ball with ease. They connected on 16 of 31 shots from deep, a remarkable 52% rate, including five from Yalaho, four from Vavers, three from guard Parker Gerrits, two from forward Simon Hildebrandt and one apiece from guards Ace Glass and Jerone Morton.

That says a lot about the Cougars’ sharp offense – Morton also logged four assists, his most in three weeks – but it might say even more about what they can accomplish when Glass isn’t himself. With nine points, Glass’ streak of 12-straight games scoring in double figures came to an end. It’s his lowest scoring output since he managed three against USC, which came in mid-December. Since then, he had been his usual self, efficient and aggressive and clutch and everything that makes Glass, well, Glass.

But what happens when he isn’t? In Saturday’s game, he shot just 4-for-14 from the floor, including a 1-for-5 display from distance. He wasn’t exactly pressing – he didn’t commit a single turnover, giving him an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7-0 – but he wasn’t hitting the shots he usually does, either. So when the Pilots (10-14, 3-8) put two on Glass, often on ball screens, he responded by doing what has become an understated subplot in his development: He moved the ball and kept things simple.

Riley likes to describe things like this: Glass can score. That much is obvious, just as it was to the Cougars’ coaching staff when they flipped him from Texas A&M and got him on WSU’s campus.

“The way he responds to adversity and to mistakes is what makes him the most impressive,” Riley said. “I had a couple scouts talk to me about him, and they talked about how, man, on the bench, whenever you talk to him, he’s making eye contact, he’s going to the bench. He’s not rolling his eyes. He’s really trying to learn and grow from every single mistake.

“Most kids, when they go for 40 like he did versus Arizona State and teams start keying on him a little bit more – I’ve had guys take a full year after they became the top of the scouting report to learn how to adjust. He did it in a few games. He just keeps taking these challenges and answering the bell.”