WSU handles Utah Tech behind Jakimovski and Rice’s big day

Good to be home!

Back from their short road trip last weekend, the Washington State Cougars took care of business against the Utah Tech Trailblazers 93-53.

Andrej Jakimovski paved the way with a near career day, scoring a game-high 20 points, three shy of his career high while cashing in five treys. WSU (4-1) got their kill shot early with a 16-0 run in the final five minutes of the half to take a commanding 18-point lead over UT (2-3). Myles Rice contributed the highlights with two poster dunks and scored 18 points.

The Trailblazers only lead came on the first bucket of the game 23 seconds in. WSU quickly responded with a 10-0 run anchored by a tricky layup from Jakimovski and treys from him and Joseph Yesufu. Credit to the Trailblazers who wouldn’t go away quietly. The Cougs couldn’t get another big run going as UT answered nearly every bucket WSU scored for the bulk of the first half. UT kept the game within a possession or two until Myles Rice opened the flood gates with a poster dunk to ignite the kill shot run.

Jakimovski contributed a trio of free throws, Jaylen Wells drilled a three and Jabe Mullins came off the bench to hit a trey of his own before the halftime horn to give WSU the 18-point halftime lead. The run extended into the second half with five more points before the Trailblazers ended their near nine-minutes of game time drought.

WSU pushed the lead up to 32 with a barrage of threes, nailing three in a row from the trio of Rice, Wells and Jakimovski. The Cougs built on their lead throughout the remainder of the game, ending the game on a 10-0 run to grab the 40-point win. But before we could get to the final whistle, Rice wanted to throw down one more highlight dunk.

The Cougs will welcome in their up the road rival, the Eastern Washington Eagles, on Monday night.