“He’s a good player, period. His ability to score around the basket, rebound,” head coach Kyle Smith said about star forward Isaac Jones. “He just takes a toll on you.”

Toll he did, as he led WSU men’s basketball (2-0) to their second win of the season over Prairie View A&M (1-2) Friday. The final score was 83–65, and Jones had 18 of those points.

The Panthers kicked off the scoring with a pair of free throws. Rueben Chinyelu got it in the paint on the other end but was fouled. Off the inbound, Myles Rice hit a mid-range shot to start the scoring for the Cougs. The next possession was a Prairie View score, and then a Cougar make to match it. Finally, a split pair of free throws gave WSU the single-point lead, which only lasted about 20 seconds.

After a close first four minutes, the Cougs started to pull away. With just over nine minutes left, Jones destroyed the rim with a monster one-handed dunk to give the Cougs a 26-13 lead. 

“It was just another dunk for me,” Jones said. The Panther’s Brian Myles, his victim, probably felt otherwise.

Before this game, it seemed like the Cougs might be able to just do that over and over again. At halftime, that seemed to be the case, as Australian giant Oscar Cluff led the team with 13 points. He had attempted three shots, all dunks, and had converted all of them. The rest of his points came from seven-of-eight free-throw shooting. 

It gets pretty hard to guard a guy as big as Cluff when is making his free throws, and he was.

Other top Cougs were Andrej Jakimovski with nine points and Rice with eight points. Two Cougs had hit threes, those being Jakimovski and sharpshooter Jabe Mullins. WSU had 19 bench points to only five for the Panthers.

No Coug had more than one assist, but it did not matter. As the first frame closed, the Cougs were looking like a Power Six team playing a SWAC team is supposed to look. The lead was 43-30.

The second half started sloppy. Both teams had a pair of turnovers within the same amount of minutes, and the lead was staying at or close to where it was at halftime. That continued for most of the remainder of the game, but the Cougs consistently did just a little bit better, enough to slowly build the lead.

The final score was 83-65. Outside of the highlight plays, this game was largely uneventful. It never felt like the Cougs were at risk of blowing the lead, nor did any specific lineup seem to struggle. After what happened last year, this is certainly a welcome change.

Leading the Cougs in scoring was Jones with 18. If he looked good in the first game, he looked great here. He shot nine times, missing only three of those. His free throw shooting had the same line, six-of-nine. Jones also notched the first double-double of his Wazzu career with 11 rebounds, and he added a steal and two blocks to go along with all that.

He was not the only one starring for the Cougs tonight. Rice’s 15 points, five assists and two steals showed that his first collegiate game was no fluke, and he grabbed four boards as well. While he was not the most efficient, shooting only 38% from the field, he managed to get six free throws and hit all but one. There should be no doubt that Rice belongs in the starting lineup.

Jakimovski had himself a nice game too, notching 14 points on 75% from the field and 66% from outside. He did not lead the offense constantly as he did in game one, but he was hyper-efficient as a scorer and got four steals on the other end. He also showed why head coach Kyle Smith had him playing center last year, grabbing nine rebounds. Jakimovski is a star, and this team will go as far as he can take them.

Cluff had 17 points on five shots. He did not miss any shots from the field, and only missed the first of his eight free throws. His presence inside is unmatched in recent Cougar history. So many of WSU’s centers have been skinny and fast as of late, but Cluff is neither of those things in a good way. He is absolutely massive and extremely imposing, and that works to his benefit on both ends. He also had some good passes in this game and managed four assists. It is starting to become clear why people have given him the Nikola Jokic comparison.

The Cougs did not shoot the lights out in this game, they did not protect the ball particularly well and they did not hold Prairie View to a low scoring total. It did not matter. They looked outright better than their opponent, just like they were supposed to. The stars starred, and the backups came in and did their jobs well.

That is all great, but the Cougs have still faced no equal opposition. That is about to change. Next up for the Cougs is Mississippi State at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The Bulldogs just beat Arizona State by 15, a team that the Cougs split the season series with last year. The first Power Six opponent of the year for the Cougs comes early, and if they can win they could turn some heads.

That first big test will happen at 9 a.m. Saturday in Uncasville, Conn. It will be broadcast on ESPN2.