Another rough showing.
The Washington State men’s basketball team lost their fourth straight game, their sixth in the last eight games, this time to the hands of the San Francisco Dons, 75-51.
WSU (15-9, 5-6 in WCC) yet again turned the ball over at an excruciating rate, leading to a plethora of points on the other end. The Cougars turned the ball over 15 times in the first half alone, leading to 16 points for USF (18-6, 8-3). WSU’s inability to hold on to the basketball turned an early 18-6 Cougar lead into a 38-26 halftime deficit. A deficit they could only bring within 11 before imploding entirely and letting the Dons cruise to a 24-point win.
The arc of WSU’s season mirrored the story of tonight’s game. Early on, WSU looked locked in. Sure, they had a few turnovers to start the game, but when they were getting shots up, they were knocking them down, hitting eight of their first 13 shots. The defense held in and got a little lucky with some open misses by the Dons, but also got USF to cough the ball up a few times. With an early eight-point lead, WSU was showing the flashes of promise that they could be a contending team in the WCC.
Then it all came spiraling down.
USF started to knock down their shots, and the Cougars, in response, began carelessly throwing the basketball around. WSU recorded 12 turnovers over the final 11 minutes of the first half. This includes a stretch where WSU turned it over on seven straight possessions. Seven turnovers in 2:57 of game time. The Dons took advantage with a 14-0 run to end the half, with WSU not scoring in the final 5:52 before the horn.
USF poured it on to open the second half, extending the run out to 20 straight before WSU finally scored. The Cougars would use a 7-0 run to get the game back within 11, but that’s as close as they would ever come. David Riley would bench LeJuan Watts, who had five turnovers, for the remaining 14:43 of the game and Nate Calmese for the final 12:48. David Riley later shared that Calmese has been battling an illness.
WSU now slides into seventh in the WCC standings. A week and a half ago, they entered the weekend with a shot to be in second place.
The Cougars will look to right the ship in Corvallis against Oregon State on Thursday.