Washington State controls interior in commanding win against Utah 79-57
PULLMAN — The biggest win Washington State scored on Wednesday may not have come on the scoreboard. It may have been on the Cougars’ resume.
With a 79-57 win over Utah at Beasley Coliseum, the Cougs earned their second Quad 1 win of the season, which would have been a boost anyway — but particularly on the heels of a bad Quad 3 loss over the weekend.
That came to Cal in an overtime defeat. WSU is already on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament, which it hasn’t reached in nearly 15 years, so it can’t afford many losses like that. More to the point, coming off that loss, the Cougs needed to boost their resume with quality wins.
This victory over Utah, which entered the day ranked No. 24 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, certainly qualifies. The Utes played without the services of several key cogs — guard Rollie Worster and center Lawson Lovering missed the game with injuries, while guard Deivon Smith exited early with one of his own — but the result is a win for Washington State, which improves to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in Pac-12 play.
“We played with a purpose,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said. “I think we have a little more confidence in how to win those games. It’s not that long ago we played Oregon State, and we didn’t know how to win yet, necessarily. Getting that one done was big for us. Just seem to be getting better and better, hopefully.”
The Cougars did it by playing exceptional defense, holding the Utes to their lowest point total all season. Utah made just 4 of 22 tries from beyond the arc and shot 42% for the game. Center Branden Carlson led his group with 20 points, but he needed 17 shots, and guard Gabe Madsen — who burned WSU for 20 second-half points in their meeting last month — managed 14 points on 14 shots.
It’s the fewest 3-pointers — and the lowest 3-point percentage — all season for Utah, which entered as one of the Pac-12’s premier teams from beyond the arc. The Utes used that approach to singe the Cougars last month in Salt Lake City, hitting 7 of 17 from deep. On Wednesday, the hosts got up on ball screens and ran the Utes off the arc.
“Always our gameplan,” Smith said. “They’ve got so much firepower. Madsen scares you when he walks in the gym. Carlson got it going early. He still got 20, but to still limit his attempts is huge for us.”
Five scored in double figures — Isaac Jones scored 17 points, Andrej Jakimovski posted 14 points, Oscar Cluff tallied 13, Jaylen Wells logged 13 and Myles Rice added 10 — for the Cougs, who used a 47-26 second half to run away with what turned into an easy win.
This one was close early in the second half, but that’s when true freshman Isaiah Watts supplied the spark off the bench he’s become known for. He splashed back-to-back triples. Wells followed with a floater in the lane. With that 8-0 run, WSU vaulted ahead 59-49.
The Cougs piled on from there. They posted the next seven points, using baskets from Cluff and Jones, ballooning their lead up to 66-51. At that point, just five minutes remained, and the shorthanded Utes didn’t have the firepower to mount a comeback.
“This kid will shoot it in the middle of practice,” Jones said of Watts. “We’re doing drills and he just turns around (and shoots). He really thinks he’s Steph. Miss or make, he doesn’t care.”
“He’s just a confident guy,” Jakimovski said. “After practice, he’s always saying, I’m the best shooter in the world. I’m like, you’re a good shooter, but… he brings energy and he’s a good shooter. Everyone on the team says to him, keep shooting the ball. That’s where he can help us, especially when we didn’t make 3s.”
It was also a chance for Rice to show the way he’s building on his game. With six assists in Wednesday’s game, he has now logged 5-plus assists in four of his last five games. He also snared 7 rebounds. He didn’t score his best — he needed 9 shots to score 10 points, and he misfired on all three long balls he tried — but that’s the thing about the development of this redshirt freshman.
He’s blossoming into one of the best young guards in the Pac-12, if not the country. If he isn’t at the top of every opponent’s scouting report, he’s close. He’s learning how to play like himself while defenses key on him.
Rice is playing through a nagging quad injury, Smith said, which is why he didn’t practice this week leading up to Wednesday’s game. It’s nothing serious, Smith said, but he is trying to limit Rice’s minutes when he can.
“He just knows how to organize the offense,” Jakimovski said. “He’s a really good pick-and-roll player. He’s finding the shooters, me, Jaylen, Isaac. He’s trying to impact the game in every way possible, and I think he did a really good job.”
WSU returns to action on Saturday, hosting Colorado at 2 p.m. For the Cougs, it’s a chance to grab a Quad 2 victory over the Buffaloes, who earned a 98-81 road win Wednesday night over Washington, which might bump up CU from its current No. 35 spot in the NET rankings.
The noise, Smith acknowledged, is picking up. The wins aren’t just wins anymore — they’re additions to the Cougs’ resume. They can write a new line on Saturday afternoon.