The Cougs fell to the University of Southern California 68-61 in a close battle in the Galen Center. The Cougs continue to struggle with five straight losses and will face head coach David Riley’s previous team in Spokane Arena. David Riley mentioned what the team needs to do to start winning in a postgame radio interview.
“This team is good and it’s just really, really frustrating that we haven’t been able to turn the corner and it’s hard to turn the corner against a team like USC,” he said.
USC opened the game with a 15-0 burst that quickly turned into a 19-3 advantage, with key contributions from forward Chad Baker-Mazara, who scored nine points during that stretch.The Cougars struggled and turned the ball over giving USC 7 points off of turnovers in the first half.
The Cougs answered late in the first half with a 9-0 run, cutting the gap and shifting some momentum. Senior Rihards Vavers provided a spark, finishing with a team-high 13 points on efficient shooting. Guards Eemeli Yalaho and Jerone Morton also contributed 10 points, helping WSU stay within striking distance.
Washington State came out with renewed energy in the second half. Scoring 7 of the first 8 points. With improved ball movement and defensive intensity, WSU trimmed USC’s lead to just 1 point midway through the second half.
USC’s offense was led by Jacob Cofie, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara added 19 points, including clutch free throws down the stretch that helped seal the win. Ezra Ausar also contributed 13 points for USC.
With under three minutes remaining, WSU trimmed the deficit to three on free throws by ND Okafor and a three-pointer from Eemeli Yalaho. USC answered with a Jaden Brownell layup and clutch free throws from Cofie pushed the lead back, and a critical chase-down block by Baker-Mazara thwarted the Cougs’ final push. Riley talked about the progress of the team going forward and looking into conference play.
“Like we were pretty damn bad early in the season about executing our coverages,” he said. “If we were in zone, we’d have one guy that was doing the wrong zone or some crazy stuff like that. And like the last three, four games, we’ve been executing better. We’ve been on the same page. We’ve been doing our coverages, but we just got to get the right kind of energy”
WSU takes on Eastern Washington on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m in Spokane.
