In showdown with No. 18 Gonzaga, how can WSU clean up the issues that led to a loss to Pacific?

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Jan. 11—PULLMAN — Shortly after Washington State suffered the worst loss of its season, a home setback at home Thursday night against Pacific, coach David Riley looked exasperated. His Cougars had just lost a Quad 4 game, a serious blow to theirNCAA Tournament chances, and it came on a buzzer-beater.

How did the Cougars let Tigers guard Lamar Washington rack up 40 points, more than his previous three games combined? How did they let a second straight player drop 30-plus on them? Maybe more important, why did WSU continue to show Washington single coverage for much of the game, instead of doubling him?

“We had some times where we were supposed to,” Riley said, “and we were a little bit late — and he’s such a quick player. If you go slow, if you tiptoe into those double teams or different ways that we were trying to put two on the ball, he’s too fast for it to look like you’re even doing it. We were slow on our rotations. We weren’t tight. I did a really bad job of preparing our team in that regard.”

If there’s one thing Riley and the Cougars (13-4, 3-1 WCC) seem sure about, it’s that kind of defense won’t fly Saturday evening against No. 18 Gonzaga (13-4, 4-0). The Zags are a far better team by every measure, and with their 11-game home winning streak, WSU is walking into a much more difficult situation.

It just won’t be for first place in the WCC. The teams were on that kind of collision course earlier this week, but that was before WSU lost to Pacific, which entered No. 310 in the NET rankings. Instead, the Cougars are facing what might be a must-win against the Zags to make up for that loss, to grab one of the three remaining Quad 1 games on the rest of their regular-season schedule.

The loss puts the Cougars’ season in a precarious spot. Only three of the top 62 teams in the NET rankings have a Quad 4 defeat on their ledger. None of the top 53 does. During the last 20 seasons, only one team with a similar resume to Washington State’s made the NCAA Tournament via…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/showdown-no-18-gonzaga-wsu-160200035.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2025-01-11 16:02:00

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