A massive win for a battered WSU team.
Despite entering the game without their leading scorer, Cedric Coward, and losing Rihards Vavers for the final 32 minutes of the game, the Washington State Cougars emerged victorious in Reno, Nevada, upending the Nevada Wolfpack 68-57.
WSU (7-2) entered Monday night as heavy underdogs, being predicted to lose by around 11 points according to the sportsbooks and analytical sites. Instead, they flipped the script an entire 180 degrees and won by 11 against a Nevada (6-2) team that made the NCAA tournament last year and is poised to make another run this year.
There’s a couple reasons why this win is just so remarkable beyond the fact that Nevada is projected to be a very good team. First, WSU got it done while being pretty banged up. Coward missed his third straight game, and after scoring eight points in five minutes, Vavers had to leave the game with an apparent hand injury that ultimately kept him sidelined for the remainder of the game. In their absences, WSU got outstanding production from their starters, Isaiah Watts, who led the game in scoring with 17, LeJuan Watts with 13 points, and Nate Calmese, who had 10 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds.
Secondly, it was WSU’s defense that stepped up to limit a Nevada team that averaged 79.1 points entering Monday night’s contest. Defense has been a concern for WSU this season, averaging 72.8 points against before the Nevada game. However, WSU held a team to under 60 points for the first time all season and held the Wolfpack to a season-low 20% (4/20) from beyond the arc. Now Nevada still missed their fair share of open shots, especially early on, but WSU’s defense looked sharp between their man and zone coverages.
On the other end, WSU avenged their 22% turnover rate with their third-best three-point shooting performance of the season, hitting 41.4% of there triples, with Isaiah Watts hitting five of his eight attempts from downtown.
After Nevada shot a putrid 25.7% from the field and hit just one of their first 15 three-point attempts in the first half, WSU found themselves up 10 to kick off the second half. The lead felt too good to be true at the time. There was just no way Nevada could shoot that poorly again in the second half, and WSU had two players, Dane Erikstrup and ND Okafor, both in foul trouble with three fouls each. With an already limited bench without Coward and not Vavers, WSU’s starters were going to have to find a way to get it done.
Nevada indeed found their shooting groove in the second half. The Wolfpack scored 36 points, good for 1.16 points per possession, shot 59.1% from the field, and 60% from beyond the arc. WSU, however, answered nearly every Nevada bucket with one of their own to keep Nevada from ever getting three unanswered possessions in a row until the final 40 seconds of the game.
WSU matched Nevada’s second-half efficiency with a nearly as efficient 50% from both the field and beyond the arc. The Cougars really broke things open with an 8-0 run off an Isaiah Watts trey, an Ethan Price dunk, and a LeJuan Watts and-one that pushed a nine-point Cougar lead up to 17 with 11:27 to play. WSU would later balloon the lead up to a game-high 21 points with 6:08 to play. Nevada would end the game with a 7-0 run over the final 39 seconds to cut the final deficit down to 11.
An extremely impressive win for David Riley’s squad to overcome injuries and play some of their best defense of the season on the road against a formidable opponent. WSU will now head back up north to square off with the Boise State Broncos on Saturday.
