Returning to Beasley Coliseum, the Cougars needed to flush their 28-point loss at Santa Clara on Thursday. They did so with a strong performance against Saint Mary’s, a top-30 team in the country, leading for over three-quarters of the game and ultimately losing by five.

WSU got off to a quick start, opening up the game with a 12-3 lead. The offense, as they have often done this season, started hot. They took advantage of the Gaels playing an off-ball defense, which opened up lanes to the rim. Saint Mary’s seemed to be working extra hard to not give the Cougs open threes. In the first half, WSU took only three attempts from beyond the arc and most of their points came in the paint.

The Gaels quickly responded, making up their nine-point deficit within a few minutes. The rest of the first half was a back-and-forth endeavor, with the Cougs and Gaels trading punches. WSU never let go of their narrow lead, but as they entered the half at 38-35, it was anything but a comfortable margin for the Cougars.

Ethan Price got the scoring going in the second half with a triple to put the Cougs up by six. That kicked off a 7-0 run for the Cougars and two minutes into the second half, the Cougars were leading 45-35, their largest lead of the night.

It was then that Saint Mary’s caught fire. The Gaels outscored Wazzu 20-5 over a five-minute period, turning a ten-point deficit into a five-point lead. To make matters worse for the Cougs, Dane Erikstrup, their second-leading scorer on the evening, was whistled for his third and fourth fouls. With 12 minutes to go, Erikstrup headed to the bench, close to fouling out.

WSU managed to stop the bleeding and stayed competitive throughout the final ten minutes of the game, but the Gaels finished strong and never gave the Cougars an opportunity to retake the lead. Price gave it his best effort to keep the team afloat, hitting three more clutch threes.

His final three came with a little over a minute left and brought the Cougs within a point. But down by one, WSU allowed Saint Mary’s to find easy points in the paint, extending their lead back to three. With 45 seconds left, the Cougars had a chance to tie the game, but instead turned it over. Needing to foul, they sent the Gaels to the free-throw line, and they did not miss.

“To knock those shots down in a big moment…it’s what you gotta do for the team,” Price said. “But you’d like to come up with the win.”

Saint Mary’s sealed their 80-75 win on the free-throw line and showed why they are undefeated in the West Coast Conference. They played smart basketball, limited their mistakes and took advantage of the Cougs mistakes.

Despite the loss, there were positives that emerged for WSU. They limited their turnovers to 12 and shot a perfect 13-13 from the free-throw line. WSU did not make many mistakes and their best effort fell just short of a Saint Mary’s squad that is 18-3.

Still, head coach David Riley admitted he is still learning and developing as a coach and wants to improve.

“I just gotta get better,” Riley said. “I just feel like, we’re learning a ton…there’s times, including today, where I just feel like I let these guys down and if I had made a couple more adjustments…I don’t know, like, you’re learning a lot.”

He said the best way to learn is by playing against the best and that the coaches in the WCC have presented a good challenge for him.

The Cougs, meanwhile, fell to 15-7 on the year and 5-4 in conference play. They likely can afford just one more loss to keep their NCAA Tournament chances afloat.

“Just gotta keep working, just gotta keep getting better, keep watching the film,” said Nate Calmese after the game. “Try to get wins, that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”

WSU now takes to the road for a three-game road trip against Pacific, San Francisco and Oregon State. Their next home game is on Feb. 8 against Pepperdine.