WSU men’s basketball (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12) played Colorado (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12) in Pullman Saturday afternoon. They won by a score of 78-69, splitting the season series with a mountain team for the second time in two games.

The Coug’s last game against Colorado was a 74-67 loss. Colorado led for most of that game, but it got close several times. As the second half dwindled, the Cougs managed to get as close as one point with just a few minutes left.

With three minutes remaining, the Buffaloes built their lead back up. They finished the game up seven, dodging what could have been a tight ending.

Now, after that close but decisive victory, Colorado is in Pullman. Now the away team against a much more put-together WSU team, the Buffaloes had a lot to deal with.

The game started slow, with neither team jumping to a serious lead out of the gates. With around 12 minutes left in the first half, the Cougs pulled ahead by eight, their most of the period. The score was 18-10.

Colorado consistently responded to big WSU leads by immediately shrinking them back down, and despite a strong outing from three-point range, the Cougs were only up by six at the half.

The Cougs made five of their 11 3-point attempts in the first half, good for 45%. The defense had held Colorado to 33% from the field and 29% from 3-point range.

Andrej Jakimovski had 11 points, leading both teams. He made three shots, all from outside, and made both of the free throws he was awarded.

Jakimovski also had four assists and five rebounds, on pace for a near triple-double. 

The other most significant contributor for the Cougs was Jaylen Wells. Defensively he managed every assignment, switching onto whoever had the ball in his half of the court.

Wells also poured in two shots from outside, made a free throw and grabbed six rebounds.

The second half went better for the Cougs, although that does not mean it went without a hitch or two.

The first close call was around the 12-minute mark when Colorado hit a pair of threes and then a layup to bring the game within four points. Kymany Houinsou nailed a pair of free throws and Jaylen Wells hit a jumper of his own to bring that lead back up to eight.

Six minutes after that, Myles Rice drove to the rim and had his shot blocked. Head coach Kyle Smith was irate, believing the block to be a goal tend, and he was whistled for a technical foul.

KJ Simpson, who hit a game-winner against the Cougs last year, shot and made both free throws. Moments later, Wells and Isaac Jones had fouls called on them, the second being a shooting foul on Simpson. He made both again.

In just thirty seconds the Cougar lead dropped from 10 to six. An untimely Cougar turnover with 3:34 left led to a Simpson 3-pointer, bringing the lead down to just three.

The officials played a role in the dwindling lead, and the fans were letting them know. A pair of fans were ejected, and the crowd was as loud as it had been all year. The Cougs responded.

A Jones layup brought the lead to five, but the Buffaloes kept pace. Two Rice layups in a row got the lead up to seven, but yet another Simpson 3-pointer cut it back down.

With 28 seconds left, Jones got the ball expecting to be fouled.

“I thought they were going to foul me right away, but I don’t know why they didn’t,” Jones said. “I was determined on putting them in the basket and that’s what I did.”

Jones rose for the contested dunk and was fouled, giving the Cougs the definitive lead and putting him at the line. He made the free throw, and the game was all but over.

The final score was 69-78. The Cougs led for the final 37 minutes of the game, and the final difference of nine points gives no hint of how close it truly got.

Leading the Cougs in scoring were Rice and Wells, both with 17. Wells and Jones each had double-doubles, with Jones scoring the points that put him in double figures on that final and-1 dunk.

Rueben Chinyelu played only 13 minutes, but he impacted the whole game. Three strong blocks early in the game set the tone in the paint, and after one of his stops, he added some extra embellishment that got the crowd going.

Colorado center Eddie Lampkin Jr. trash-talked Chinyelu during the Cougar loss to Colorado in December. After getting the stop that led to points on the other end, Chinyelu made sure to get a jab of his own in.

“When we first played them he said something to me, I think it was like ‘You thought this was too easy?’,” Chinyelu said. “I just said ‘You will see about that’.”

He motioned to the ground in a recently popularized move that means “too small”, which he followed up with stomping the imaginary mini-Lampkin.

Just as Chinyelu stomped mini-Lampkin, the Cougs stomped the Buffaloes.

Next up for the Cougs is an opponent they would surely love to stomp, University of Washington. 

The Huskies sit third-from-last in the conference and have lost three of their last five games. However, they blew out Utah on Saturday night, a team that is on track for the tournament. A win could put WSU on top of the conference, while a loss could derail a promising run. 

By all accounts, the Cougs are the better team, but is it ever that simple?

The final Apple Cup series in Pac-12 history will start at 6 p.m. Saturday in Seattle. Fans can watch on the Pac-12 Network.