WSU takes advantage of big three
COUGARS
We are done with our game story from Fresno, a game Washington State had to overcome a lot of crud to pull out 66-55. Read on for our story and some notes.
••••••••••
• We'll start with our story, which you can find here
•••
• OK, now some thoughts. This game was ugly, but pretty at the same time. The ugly part came from WSU playing without 40 percent of its expected starting lineup, from Fresno State playing a physical brand of defense, and from the Bulldogs, who shoot like a glaucoma-ridden marksman, refusing to patiently work the ball inside, firing away indiscriminately from long range instead. But the pretty part, as in pretty impressive, is Washington State winning a game in which it did not shoot all that well – Thompson was 8 of 17¬ and Patrick Simon was 0 for 5 in his first collegiate road game – and did not board all that well – FSU had was plus-9 on the offensive glass and plus-7 overall. ... One key was the play of Marcus Capers and Dre Winston, filling in for Reggie Moore at the point. Neither are true points at this level – Capers because his skills really don't match the position and Winston because of his lack of size and experience – but with the ball in their hands most of the game, they combined for five assists and no turnovers. ... As I said in the story, Casto is expected back next week. Moore's return, on the other hand, is still dependent on his wrist healing enough that he won't do more damage. ... Xavier Thames was at the game and talked with his former teammates afterward. ... Garrett Johnson led Fresno State with a career-high 15 points off the bench. ... Some of the 3-point totals for FSU: Johnson, 3 of 11, Kevin Olekaibe, 2 of 9, Nedeljko Golubovic, 1 of 4. ... Thompson is tied with Marcus Moore for seventh on WSU's career 3-pointers made list. ... Motum's 30 minutes were a career high. Aden played 37 and Capers 31. Thompson, with foul trouble, played 32. ... Will DiIorio, a walk-on, played 2 minutes in Thompson's place. ... Capers led WSU with eight rebounds.
•••
• That's it for tonight. Our flight leaves Fresno at 6:25 tomorrow morning, so we won't be blogging until we get to Seattle. Don't expect anything until well after 9 a.m. Until then ...
