The Cougars made the cross-state trip to Seattle on Dec. 18 to face the Huskies, and took a tough loss to their rivals.
No longer PAC-12 opponents, the Apple Cup has become a non-conference rivalry game. The Cougs came to Seattle boasting a superior 9-2 record, but without Cedric Coward, Marcus Wilson and Rihard Vavers.
The Cougs got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 12-5 lead and playing fast. That would be the Cougs biggest lead of the night, however. Early fouls slowed down the pace of play, and the Cougs weren’t able to outpace the Huskies.
The whistle-happy refs from the Big 10 called 47 total fouls, including 27 against the Cougars and 20 against the Huskies. Averaging over a foul per minute, the game was slow and sloppy.
Already with a short bench, Wazzu struggled to find offense in the second half, as Dane Erikstrup, Ethan Price, and Nate Calmese were all in fouls trouble early on. WSU was unable to find any sort of momentum with multiple starters on the bench for the entire second half.
WSU struggled from deep, making just six of 20 three-point opportunities. Washington, meanwhile, made ten of 21 threes. Shooting was a major factor in the game.
The worst blow, however, came late in the second half when Isaiah Watts went down with an apparent wrist injury, and had to leave the game. Watts status is now up in the air for the Cougs future games. Losing another starter would be potentially devastating for a team that has already lost three players for the season.
The Huskies ultimately won 89-73. They controlled the game throughout the second half and never trailed after taking the lead about twelve minutes into the game.
The loss counts as a Quad 2 loss for the Cougars, who are now 2-2 against Quad 2 opponents (wins over Boise State and Bradley, losses to Washington and Southern Methodist).
After the game, coach David Riley had some harsh words for the crew of referees who tagged his team for 27 fouls.
“Last time we played a Big 10 team (Iowa) we got an apology from the officials,” said Riley. “We gotta figure out how to defend without fouling, I guess, especially against Big 10 teams.”
The Cougars also continue to struggle with turnovers. They gave the ball up 22 times.
“Hard to win a game when you have 22 turnovers,” said Riley. He put it blunty.
Ethan Price led the Cougs with 16 points, a steady presence for the Cougs in a game when injuries and fouls took out many of the Cougs starters.
“Ethan’s been our most steady player throughout the year,” said Riley.
The loss dropped the Cougs to a record of 9-3.
