After losing to Southern Methodist University in the finals at the Acrisure Invitational, WSU made the trip to Nevada to face a strong Wolfpack squad ranked as the third-best team in the Mountain West. The Cougs locked down on defense and defeated the Wolfpack 68-57, a strong double-digit road win over a top-50 team in the country.

The Cougars were without senior Cedric Coward, who also missed their games against SMU and Fresno State. It did not matter for the Cougs, who slowed the pace down and forced Nevada to play a slow, defense-first game. Despite entering the game with only a 17% chance to win, according to ESPN WSU did what they needed to do to shock Nevada.

In the first half, the Cougs held Nevada to just 21 points, and entered the break with a ten-point lead. WSU’s ability to slow down Nevada on defense helped keep the pace down, and WSU hit the shots they needed to make. The Cougs made 12 threes (41%) as a team compared to just four (20%) for Nevada, a key to Wazzu’s winning ways.

The Cougs pushed their lead to as much as 21 in the second half, before eventually settling for the 11-point win in a mostly stress-free second half.

Isaiah Watts, who started in place of Coward, led the team in scoring with 17 points. Watts nailed five threes while missing three. He continues to prove himself as one of the best shooters in the country and appears to be on a hot streak after being very cold earlier this month.

LeJuan Watts added 13 points of his own and led the team with nine rebounds. He made the only three-point shot he attempted.

Ethan Price and Nate Calmese both dropped ten points and Calmese led the team with seven assists.

Rihards Vavers added eight points off the bench, including a pair of threes, while Parker Gerrits scored his first two points of the season.

Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Cougs, who gave the ball up 15 times. However, they continue to win the battle in the paint (26 to 22).

“I thought we did it with togetherness…just proud of this team for coming together day by day,” said head coach David Riley.

He was proud of the Cougs for holding Nevada to under 60 points and credited the team for believing they could win. After watching the film of losses to Iowa and SMU, the Cougars realized they could win games against good teams, he said.

“I thought Isaiah hit some huge ones,” Riley said. “It was really cool to see them step up when the pressure was on.”

He credited the Cougs for hitting momentum-killing threes whenever Nevada started getting on a roll. 

Nevada is ranked as the No. 52 team on the NET rankings, while WSU is now ranked No. 69, up from No. 87.

“It’s really cool to see,” Riley said. “Our guys just stepped up.”

The win is the Cougars’ first quad-one win and now gives them a record of 1-1 versus quad-one opponents after previously losing against Iowa. It is the first true road game of the Cougs season, so they are undefeated in road play. The Cougs are 2-2 at neutral sites and 4-0 at home, for a total record of 7-2.

Last year, WSU won 24 games, including a 6-4 quad one record. This year, they are currently on pace for 25 wins and are projected to play seven more quad-one opponents. If the Cougs can go 5-4 versus quad one and match their win total from last year, they will put themselves in very good position to make the NCAA tournament for a second straight season.

Next, the Cougs take on Boise State, the top-ranked team in the Mountain West, and will look to avenge a tough loss in football against the Broncos.