WSU Basketball returns to Vegas for more postseason action.
A little less than a month after Ryan Beasley and the San Francisco Dons thought they ended Washington State’s season, the Cougs will return to Vegas to participate in the inaugural running of The College Basketball Crown. This will mark the fourth straight postseason appearance for WSU basketball, which, from what I can tell, is the longest such streak in school history. WSU made five postseason appearances in 6 years from 2007 to 2012, including two NCAA tournament appearances, two NITs, and a run to the final of the College Basketball Invitational.
The College Basketball Crown (CBC) is a brand new college basketball invitational being put on by Fox Sports in the MGM Grand, primarily consisting of teams from the Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12. The tournament has been met with some controversy as it is diluting the quality of teams participating in the NIT, a long-established second option to the NCAA tournament. The 16-team tournament boasts a $300,000 NIL prize pool for the winning team, $100,000 for second, and $50,000 for third, a unique new wrinkle in the college basketball landscape. The first two rounds will take place at the MGM, and the semi-finals and the final will be held at T-Mobile Arena.
The Cougs will look very different from when they took the floor in Vegas a few weeks ago. They will be without two starters in leading scorer Nate Calmese and Isiah Watts, so David Riley is going to have to get creative. WSU’s first-round opponent, the Georgetown Hoyas, will be down starter Drew Fielder, who averaged seven points per game and five rebounds. Despite the Cougs being down 26 points of production and their primary ball handler, they are only 3.5-point underdogs according to ESPN Sportsbook, make of that what you will. Parker Gerrits or Tomas Thrastarsson will most likely assume a good portion of the ball-handling duties, unless David chooses to have Lejuan Watts run as a point forward.
Georgetown is 1-8 in Quad One games and 88th in NET, boasting a similar resume to the Cougs. The Hoyas started 12-2 but struggled in Big East play, losing 12 of their last 17 contests and falling in back-to-back games to 14-19 DePaul to end the season. This will be the first ever meeting between the two programs, and ESPN analytics gives the Cougs a 35.2% chance to win. The game will take place on FS1 at 8 p.m. Monday night, and the winner will take on the victor of Nebraska/Arizona State on Wednesday night.