In front of a crowd of 10,219, the Cougars struggled to keep up with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, resulting in an 83-64 loss.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, holding Gonzaga to a single field goal in the first four minutes. The Bulldogs did not appear to break a sweat and put together a 9-0 run to take the lead right back.
That was the beginning of what would become a mostly one-sided affair. The Cougars answered back to make it 11-10, but from there, Gonzaga sophomore forward Braden Huff went on a 9-2 run, extending the Bulldog’s lead to 20-12 in the process.
Then it was sophomore guard Dusty Stromer’s turn to get hot. He hit threes on back-to-back possessions, helping Gonzaga withstand a pair of field goals from LeJuan Watts, and extend the Bulldog’s lead to 29-19.
Gonzaga was relentless in their attack, playing strong defense and putting intense pressure on the Cougs in the paint. Their bench scored more in the first half than their starters. Meanwhile, the Cougars were lucky to get an open shot, and even when they did, it tended to fall short of the net.
LeJuan Watts tried his best to keep the team in it, scoring 14 points in the first half and going 5-9 from the field. The rest of the team combined for 14 points, making just six of 24 attempts from the field.
“I just tried to offensively go at (Graham Ike),” said LeJuan Watts.
Isaiah Watts had high praise for his teammate.
“I wanna say, when LeJuan’s aggressive when he plays with the fire that he plays with … I think he’s one of the best players in the WCC,” said Isaiah Watts.
Meanwhile, by halftime, the Cougs had committed nine fouls, including three from senior Ethan Price and two from senior Dane Erikstrup. Gonzaga took advantage, not missing a single free throw in the first half. By the time the long first half had finally ended, the Cougs found themselves in a 22-point hole, trailing 50-28.
Gonzaga let their foot off the gas in the second half, allowing the Cougs to stop the bleeding. WSU trailed by as much as 25, but clawed back to make it a 16-point deficit with eight games remaining, mostly due to a strong stretch off the bench from Tomas Thrastarson. The freshman scored 12 points in the second half, but it was not enough to dent the Bulldogs lead.
Isaiah Watts was appreciative of the bench for showing up and providing points the team needed in the second half.
“They helped a lot,” said Watts. “Tomas … had a huge ten minutes … when they came in off the bench, they gave us the spark that we needed.”
Head coach David Riley said the team needs to find more consistency.
“That’s been the story of the last month,” said Riley. “Three or four guys have that fight … three or four guys not and we just gotta find that balance.”
