There is a common phrase that goes as follows: it isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Wednesday night, the size of the dogs the Cougars were facing was enormous, but the size of the fight in the Cougars was more than admirable. Washington State did not allow the Bulldogs to walk all over them, although the Zags did leave the Spokane arena victorious after putting the Cougars away 81-66.

The Cougars checked one to do list improvement item off in the first half. They came out with intensity and didn’t allow the high octane Bulldogs to run away with the game early. While turnovers wounded the Cougars early on with 10 in the first half, WSU grabbed 17 rebounds and held Gonzaga to 20 percent shooting from the arc. The Cougars continued to limit Gonzaga’s effectiveness from the arc in the second half, as Gonzaga ended the game shooting 36.4 percent from the arc. WSU came out in the second half with more attention to protecting the ball, giving the ball away only five times in the second half.

Gonzaga was able to be successful from the floor with junior center Prezemek Karnowski, who scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Gonzaga’s senior guard Byron Wesley also dropped points in the double digits, sinking 10 of fourteen shots for 20 points while racking up nine rebounds. Redshirt junior forward Kyle Wiltjer rounded out the trio of high scoring Bulldogs, adding 21 points and six rebounds. The Bulldogs also benefitted from on WSU’s 15 turnovers, allowing for easy layups that helped boost Gonzaga out of the Cougars reach.

Senior guard DaVonté Lacy struggled to knock down shots early. He had six points in the first half and eight in the second half for a total of 14 points. Not because of a lack to effort, but rather because of a tight Bulldog’s defense that tied Lacy down and magnified missed shots and wayside passes. Lacy came out with a vengeance in the house by Gonzaga’s tight defense kept him from getting to the basket.

WSU’s defense was led by sophomore forward Josh Hawkinson who had eleven rebounds in addition to his 18 points, adding to the Cougars 19 rebounds. Tough play on the floor for the Cougars made up for what they lacked in size. Blocks drawing offensive fouls on Gonzaga aided the Cougars ability to match the Bulldogs stride for stride throughout much of the game. The Bulldogs were not able to fully shake the Cougars off of them until late in the second half, WSU closed the gap to single digits multiple times.

While their shooting was not as stellar as it was in their previous game against UTSA, it was hardly dismal. The Cougars shot 50 percent from the arc and 52.1 percent from the floor. Sophomore Ike Iroegbu matched Lacy’s 14 points and also had three assists.

The Cougars will travel to Santa Clara to face the Santa Clara University Broncos at 7 p.m. on Saturday.