WSU’s season ends with 85-82 loss to Georgetown in College Basketball Crown opener

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PULLMAN — Washington State will not be playing April basketball.

The Cougars’ season came to an end with an 85-82 loss to Georgetown Monday night in the College Basketball Crown opener in Las Vegas, where their shorthanded group led a double-digit lead slip to an equally depleted Hoya squad.

In the inaugural CBC tournament, WSU (19-15) got double-digit scoring efforts from four players: Wing LeJuan Watts with 22 points, freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson with 12 and forwards Ethan Price with 16 and Dane Erikstrup with 15 in his 100th game of Division I basketball.

Up three at halftime, the Cougars were undone on the offensive glass, where the Hoyas burned them for 18 offensive rebounds for 13 second-chance points. The most important rebound belonged to Georgetown guard Malik Mack, who popped for a career-high 37 points, including two free throws after grabbing his own miss in the final seconds.

Georgetown was up 83-82 when Mack missed a straightaway 3-pointer with seven seconds left, only to track down his own miss, which forced WSU to foul and stop the clock. Mack sank the free throws, and on the other end, the Hoyas fouled Watts to prevent the Cougars from trying a game-tying triple.

After Watts made the first shot and purposely missed the second, his group still got the chance. The miss caromed around and found WSU’s best shooter, sophomore wing Ri Vavers, who wound up with a pretty clean look on the left side. But Vavers sailed it a tad wide right, where it clanged off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

PERFECT execution of intentionally missing a FT, rebounders “X” & grab the offensive rebound and finding a shooter. Just missed. Fantastic late game execution. pic.twitter.com/YNNatnTyMm

— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) April 1, 2025

It was a familiar development for WSU, which has struggled all season in the rebounding department. The Hoyas were operating without two of their best big men, but that didn’t stop them from earning…

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Publish date : 2025-04-01 03:59:00

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