On Saturday the Cougars battled the No. 16 Gonzaga Bulldogs, coming up short in an 88-75 loss in Spokane.
The McCarthy Athletic Center was bustling with Gonzaga fans, with a lively student section and a full arena. The Cougs knew it would be loud, and looked prepared to deal with it.
Dane Erikstrup got the scoring going early on, posting up Khalif Battle to knock down the first points of the game. The teams stayed remarkably even through the first half. The Cougs fell behind 13-9, then went on a 10-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 19-13. However, the Bulldogs slowly closed the gap, methodically finding open shots and picking apart the Cougars defense.
As the half came to a close, the Bulldogs had regained a three-point lead, and Wazzu entered the break down a 40-37 in a competitive game.
Despite leading in rebounds and shooting over 10% better than the Bulldogs in the first half, the Cougars were not able to take advantage and grab a lead. The Cougars looked like the better team offensively in the first half, playing with more physicality and making more of their shots. However, turnovers were hurting them, and the Bulldogs knew how to take advantage.
Gonzaga looked outmatched physically but looked far more polished. WSU committed more fouls, made more errant passes and was also called for a pair of travels. The Bulldogs also shot better from the free-throw line.
In the second half, the Bulldogs stopped playing with their food. They took advantage of their depth and speed and flipped the momentum in their favor. They hit four threes in the span of three minutes, and five minutes into the second half, Gonzaga had effectively put the game away.
WSU, getting tired and lacking the depth to stay fresh, slowly fell behind. By the end of the game, it was clear who the better team was. The Bulldogs, who had missed numerous open threes in the first half, shot over 50% in the second half, finishing 10/21 in the game.
The Cougars did manage to cover the spread, adding some last-minute points to cut the final score to 13 points, but they trailed at one point by as much as 22.
Still, a 13-point loss at Gonzaga is nothing to hang their heads on. No team has played the Bulldogs closer in their home arena. Although losing back-to-back games certainly hurts, the Cougars played well, even earning a compliment from legendary Gonzaga head coach Mark Few after the game.
“They’re hard to guard, they’re big and they’re physical,” Few said.
WSU head coach David Riley, on the other hand, said his team did not come out with the fire they needed to win the game.
“I personally didn’t do enough job of having us ready for the fight,” said Riley. “That fight for forty minutes, I think was the difference, and they came out with a little more fire than us.”
Nate Calmese, who led the Cougs in scoring with 20 points, said he felt like the team was shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers. However, he said he believed the Cougars proved they were just as good as the Bulldogs, and took away positives from the game.
“If we play the way we’re supposed to play, we should be right there with them,” said Calmese. “Add this as fuel to the fire…this is a top 18 team in the country, and we were right there with them at half even though we didn’t play out best game…we could be right there.”
