Washington State will attempt to find momentum before WCC tournament.
Fifteen thousand people made their way into Beasley last week, and Washington State didn’t give them much to cheer about. Between the drubbing handed to them by Gonzaga, or the fifteen made threes in the first half by Santa Clara, it was a depressing sight. It looked like the Cougs were going to be able to hang around with the Zags for the first ten minutes or so, and then the doors were absolutely blown off. The guys (some more than others) look lifeless and dejected. But the beauty of college basketball, there is still so much to play for.
Tonight, the WSU takes on the 4-25 San Diego Toereos to celebrate their senior night. Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup will likely be playing their last games in Beasley. Senior Cedric Coward, who is out for the year, has a still uncertain future that is very much up in the air.
This shouldn’t be a struggle for the Cougs, who are 13.5 point favorites at home, but the narrowly escaped defeat in San Diego at the start of their skid sends some reasonable red flags. Dropping this one would be a new low, but nothing would be suprsing at this point. The contest will be at 6:30pm on ESPN+.
Following the result of tonights action, Washington State will head to California to take on the Pepperdine Waves. The Cougs secured a dramatic one point-come back against the Waves earlier this month, fueled by four Isiah Watts threes and an Ethan Price blocked shot at the end of regulation. Pepperdine isn’t quite as bad as San Diego, but they do sit at 4-12 in conference play. WSU has struggled on the road this season, winning four of their eleven meetings. That game will take place Saturday March 1st, at 7pm on ESPN+.
This week will play a massive factor in WSU’s conference tournament seeding. A 2-0 week (of which they will be heavily favored to achieve) and an LMU loss to Saint Mary’s this evening means the Cougs will jump from the 7th to the 6th seed. That may seem insignificant, but thats the difference between needing five wins rather than four wins to nab the WCC tournament. If the Cougs acquire the 6th seed, they will play Saturday night in Vegas at 8:30pm, if they slip up, their journey will start Friday night at the same time.
Fingers crossed, Go Cougs.