No. 25 WSU men’s basketball (24-9, 14-6 Pac-12) lost to Colorado (24-10, 13-7 Pac-12) in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, departing Vegas with a .500 record in two games.
The Cougs started the tournament with a bye, earned by being one of the top two seeds. That meant they started in the second round, facing a Stanford team that had just pulled off a miracle comeback. The Cardinal went from down 18 points to winning in overtime, beating a very hot Cal team.
With no days off between that thriller and the following matchup with WSU, Stanford had its work cut out. This was good news for the Cougs, who closed the regular season with two losses in four games including dropping the final in-conference Apple Cup to close the season out.
With Stanford worn out from their previous battle, the Cougs had an easy one. The first few minutes saw the Cardinal staying in it, but once WSU got into rhythm it was over.
The Cougars entered halftime up 16 points, shooting over 50% from the field and leading the Cardinal in almost every category.
The dominance continued in the second half, which came and went without a moment of doubt. The final score was 79-62, the Cougs having piled an additional point onto the margin in the final period.
No individual Coug starred, but the team looked the best they had in weeks. Six players scored in double-digits, including 11 from Kymany Houinsou, his most since the fourth game of the season.
Andrej Jakimovski, who has been struggling with his typical shots lately, looked great in this game. He scored 13 points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers and grabbing six rebounds. The return of his jump shot, if it lasts, is a huge development for the Cougs as they head into the NCAA tournament.
After all the hope that win brought, the game against Colorado did what it could to bring Coug fans back down to earth. The Buffaloes split the season series with WSU, winning their matchup in Colorado and losing in Pullman.
This third neutral site went the way of the first one, as the Cougs shot disastrously poor from everywhere and scored their lowest total of the season. By a final score of 58-52, Colorado held off a late WSU comeback to cement their spot in the Pac-12 championship game.
The high Coug was Isaac Jones with 13 points. He and Jaylen Wells, who had 11, were the only players in Crimson jerseys to see success in the game.
Myles Rice, who was already in a major 3-pointer slump, dug himself deeper against Colorado. He took six shots from outside, missing all of them. He has not made a 3-pointer since Feb. 19 against Stanford, missing 22 straight and sinking his season average to just 27.2%.
While Rice had four steals, he also had five turnovers and four fouls. Despite multiple chances to lead a comeback, he could not manage to contribute positively in any aspect of the game.
While he was not the only problem, this type of play from Rice is catastrophic. Him and Jones are a 1A, 1B of sorts, with each one playing a major role in both the offense and the defense of the team. To succeed in the tournament, Rice is going to need to free himself from whatever is causing this slump.
Colorado went on to lose in the Pac-12 championship to Oregon. Colorado was already projected to make the tournament, and as the conference champion Oregon automatically qualified as well. That means the Pac-12 will send four teams to its final tournament, doubling the earlier projections that had only Arizona and WSU in.
With the bracket now set, WSU knows their next opponent. Looking to break out of this extended slump, the Cougs will head to Omaha, Nebraska, to face Drake. WSU is a 7 seed and Drake is a 10 seed, making for a tight matchup that still sees the Cougs favored but only slightly.
That game tips-off 7:05 p.m. Thursday in the Chi Health Center. It will be broadcast on truTV.
