After their narrow 100-92 win over Portland State, it looked like the Cougars would be an offense-first team, and the defense looked like a potential liability. However, Wazzu answered some of their defensive questions in a pair of wins against Bradley and Idaho.
The Coug’s win over Bradley was particularly impressive, considering that Bradley was the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference, and a team ranked ahead of WSU by most analysts, including the KenPom rankings.
Wazzu jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it, although Bradley kept it close throughout the first half. WSU went into halftime with a 45-42 lead, but whatever coach David Riley told his players, it worked. Immediately after the break, the Cougars went on a 19-2 run, extending their lead to 64-44. That pretty much put the game away. The Cougars went on to win 91-74.
Dane Erikstrup offered some insight into the teams’ halftime mentality and their subsequent run to start the second half.
“Big message was, we got to dog them, you know,” said Erikstrup. “One shot fell, another fell…our momentum started rolling.”
Riley had his own insight into why the team started to roll in the second half.
“I feel like we just kind of locked in and did our job and didn’t do anything extraordinary. Made them shoot tough twos,” said Riley.
The win was stylistically very different from the opening night win over Portland State. For one, the Coug’s defense locked down, especially in the second half. Bradley is a veteran team featuring eight seniors, seven of whom return from the previous season. WSU did a good job shutting them down offensively.
“We have a great offensive team, but when we guard and lock down like we did the beginning of that second half, we can be a great team on both sides,” said Riley after the game.
Meanwhile, WSU’s offense was not nearly as efficient from behind the three-point line as they had been against PSU. The Cougs still landed ten threes, but missed 21, for a percentage of .323.
One thing that remained consistent was the point spread among the offense. For the second straight game, all five starters plus Isaiah Watts off the bench topped 10 points.
Bradley struggled with fouls, with three of their starters having fouled out by the five-minute mark in the second half. WSU took advantage, shooting 81.8% from the free throw line, as opposed to Bradley, who shot 71.4%.
One of the players who fouled out was Darius Hannah, a senior forward who is likely to receive NBA buzz next offseason. Riley said the Cougs focused on attacking him physically, knowing that he had a weakness there. Similarly, they wanted to put pressure on senior guard Duke Deen.
“We wanted to make sure we put him in a position where he had to foul,” said Riley. “And I thought our guys did a really good job of that and exploiting those advantages.”
Tomas Thrastarson, a freshman from Iceland, scored his first collegiate points late in the game.
The Cougar’s next win was a 90-67 affair over the rival Idaho Vandals. They carried their momentum over effectively and rolled to their largest win of the season so far. It was also their sixth straight win in the Battle of the Palouse.
“Excited for this rivalry,” said Riley before the game. “First time playing Idaho as a Coug.”
Riley was previously 5-1 against the Vandals as the head coach of Eastern WA, and he has now improved that mark to 6-1.
Once again, the Cougars improved in the second half. They led 38-31 at halftime, and then scored 52 in the second half and putting the Vandals away.
Nate Calmese led the team in scoring with 18 points, despite going one for six in three-pointers. The Washington transfer has played well early in the season as he takes over as the starting point guard.
As a team, WSU was 8-26 in three’s, with their 30.8% a season low. Despite struggling from deep, the team continued to take shots, an indication that they remain confident in their shooting.
Riley talked about the Cougars’ ability to score without necessarily needing to hit threes, citing that last year, his team at Eastern (featuring four players on the current WSU team) was among the best in the nation at shooting two-point field goals.
“We have guys that can make you pay,” said Riley. “Our bigs are not just shooters. They can play inside.”
Cal transfer ND Okafor made his season debut after not dressing for the first two games. The 6’9 junior gave the Cougs 18 minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points and snagging six rebounds. Also scoring his first points as a Coug was freshman Marcus Wilson. He played in a season-high 15 minutes off the bench, and found the net for six points, hitting a pair of threes.
Cedric Coward, who went into the game as the Cougs scoring leader, had a quiet night, scoring just four points in 27 minutes. Coward.
The Cougars’ hot start has helped to ease concerns that the team, which brought back only one returner from last year, would take time to gel together.
“I think we’ve got a really tight-knit group,” said Ethan Price. “Everyone’s kind of embracing where they’ve come from, and buying into what we have here…we’ve enjoyed each other’s company and it shows on the court.”
With the win, WSU moved to a 3-0 record and entered the top 100 in the KenPom rankings, now ranked at No. 94. While it is still early, the Cougars are proving they can win games in multiple ways.
WSU next heads to Iowa for what is likely to be the biggest test of their early season slate. The Hawkeyes (3-0) host the Cougs on Friday night.
