Washington State survives second-half Stanford surges for rare road win over Cardinal
Washington State kept its composure and stayed in the conversation, surviving two second-half Stanford rallies to claim an important road victory Thursday night.
The Cougars extended their Pacific-12 Conference winning streak to four and earned a postseason resume booster with a 66-60 decision at Maples Pavilion.
“If we’re going to be a team that can compete and get towards the upper half of this league, you’re going to have to find ways to win those games,” coach Kyle Smith said after WSU’s first win at Stanford in 11 years.
They’d been prone to second-half collapses earlier this year. The Cougs allowed 23 straight Cardinal points in the most recent meeting – a 62-57 loss Jan. 13 – but they have since settled in.
“It’s a great feeling to show people we’ve grown and are winning close games now,” forward DJ Rodman said.
WSU (13-7, 6-3) built a 14-point advantage in the first half before Cardinal forward Spencer Jones sparked a run with a flurry of baskets midway through the second half, trimming the hosts’ deficit to just four with 13 minutes remaining.
Three-pointers from WSU guard Michael Flowers, forward Andrej Jakimovski and guard Noah Williams – his first since Dec. 22 – restored the Cougars’ comfortable lead and quelled Stanford’s momentum.
For a while, at least.
The Cardinal (13-8, 6-5) climbed out of a 16-point hole, gradually cutting into the Cougars’ cushion. They got it down to five with five minutes to go before another clutch 3 from Flowers, then closed to within three points with 1:18 on the clock.
From there, WSU’s defense made three stops and Efe Abogidi netted a few free throws to widen the gap.
“Great effort by our guys,” Smith said. “We took a punch and battled back. We took another, big punch and almost gave it up, but we hung in there and got it done.”
The Cougars are beginning to look like a mature, cohesive unit, and much of that can be attributed to Flowers, who controlled the flow of the game for stretches in the second half and acted as a stabilizing presence during Stanford’s rallies.
He posted a team-best 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, adding five assists.
“We have a guy, a quarterback,” Smith said of Flowers. “He’s calm. He keeps his calm on offense and isn’t afraid to make a big play, and guys kinda feed off his leadership.”
Tyrell Roberts, the Cougs’ other transfer guard, scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half. Abogidi and post Mouhamed Gueye combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds and Rodman chipped in nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
WSU shot 49% against Stanford’s 39%. The Cougar defenders hounded the Cardinal’s ball-handlers on the perimeter throughout the first half and Stanford went into the locker room shooting 8 for 28 from the field and down 12. The Cardinal used their edge in size to stay at WSU’s heels and finished the game with a 16-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Jones led all players with 24 points (10 of 14), 16 after halftime.
“Defensively, we were awesome in the first half – our quickness and pressure,” Smith said. “In the second half, we were not.”
The result qualifies as a Quad 2 win for WSU, No. 38 in the NET rankings. Riding the momentum generated from their second triumph over Stanford in the past 12 meetings, the Cougars will presumably climb a couple of spots in the NET if they can defeat Cal on Saturday.
“Stanford has some really good wins this year and they’ve been really tough on their home floor,” Smith said. The Cardinal swept USC and had only lost once at Maples Pavilion this season before facing WSU.
“They’re a physical team. We had to hold them off. We couldn’t really stop them in the second half. We somehow found a way.”