WSU has little trouble with L-C State
COUGARS
A tired Lewis-Clark State team – the Warriors played last night in Missoula – wasn't much of a test after about 10 minutes, but Washington State still did what it needed to do in its 89-49 exhibition win at Friel Court. Read on for a little more.
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• These Friday nights during football season drain me a bit, so we'll keep this short. ... The positives: DeAngelo Casto was 7 of 8 from the floor, kept himself under control on both ends and dominated and undersized Warrior front line. ... Klay Thompson was 8 of 12 from the field, 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over just a couple times. ... Reggie Moore recognized early he didn't need to score, penetrated at will and dished off for seven assists. He also did not turn the ball over as the Cougars had just nine as a team. Moore only took three shots, missing them all. ... Faisal Aden hit his first four shots, finished 9 of 13, was 4 of 6 behind the arc and scored 22 points, some of the acrobatic variety. ... The Cougars won the rebound battle 40-24 with Thompson and Dre' Winston getting seven, the latter player running down a bunch near the end. ... WSU shot 60 percent from the floor and held L-C State to 30.6 percent. ... Patrick Simon grabbed four rebounds, all in traffic. ... When Marcus Capers nailed a 19-foot jumper with 6:52 left, Bone did a little first pump. He said later Capers is playing really well and if he can become a consistent shooter, the Cougars will take a big stride. ... Now for the not-so-positive stuff. ... Aden has a lot to learn on the defensive end, but he's physically gifted enough to do it. He also needs to see open cutters better. ... Abe Lodwick made a lot of hustle plays and banged around, but he and Motum and Simon are going to have to convert 15-footers for WSU to be improved. Motum and Simon did a good job of it Friday, though Bone said Simon surprised him by missing three 3-pointers. He called him an exceptional shooter. ... Winston is still a work in progress as Moore's backup. He looks to be a player who could really benefit from a redshirt year but probably can't get it. ...
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• Until the link gets up, here is the story ...
PULLMAN – Washington State men's basketball coach Ken Bone got what he wanted out of Friday night.
An exhibition victory over Lewis-Clark State. Check that off with an 89-49 final before 3,682 at Friel Court.
Focused players right to the end. Check that off as the Cougars out-scored their NAIA opponent 28-7 in an 11-minute stretch late in the second half. WSU held the Warriors to 5 of 25 shooting after halftime.
A chance to see how his returning players have matured. Check that off next to the names of Klay Thompson (21 points, seven rebounds, only two turnovers), DeAngelo Casto (18, four, one in 16 minutes), Reggie Moore (seven assists, three steals) and Brock Motum (11 points on 4 of 5 shooting).
A good first look at the newcomers. Check that off twice, with junior college transfer Faisal Aden coming off the bench to hit 9 of 13 shots – including his first four – en route to a game-high 22 points, and freshman Patrick Simon adding seven points and four rebounds.
And, finally, "nobody got hurt," Bone said.
"I like the fact we stayed focused for an almost complete 40 minutes," Bone added, putting an emphasis on the word stayed. "That was important to us."
For the Cougar players, the biggest plus from the night was just getting to play someone else after three weeks of beating on each other at practice.
"We worked pretty hard in the offseason, so actually playing somebody else felt good," Casto said.
Thompson, whose first collegiate tip dunk – his words – cleaning up Aden's first miss gave WSU a 32-18 lead 12 minutes in, said the 46 points scored by reserves shows WSU is deeper this season. He feels that should help them turn around the five five-points-or-less Pac-10 Conference losses from last season.
"We're a lot tougher this year," said Thompson, 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. "We're more balanced, so when we're up 10 of 15, it's going to be easier to keep that lead because we've got so many scoring threats. We're a lot more athletic this year, so our defense is that much better."
The Warriors, playing their second game in as many nights – they also face Idaho tonight – were led by guards Darin Stewart and David Johnson with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
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• That's it for now. We'll be back in the morning with our usual football game-day post. Here's the advance that will be in tomorrow's S-R. Until then ...
