‘This is who we are’: Without Cedric Coward, reportedly set for shoulder surgery, WSU tops Boise State 74-69

Washington State just keeps finding ways to win.

Even without star wing Cedric Coward, who is reportedly set to undergo shoulder surgery that will sideline him indefinitely, WSU hung on for a 74-69 road win over Boise State on Saturday afternoon. It’s the second straight Quad 1 win for the Cougars, who led by as many as 24 but had to hold on when the Broncos made a charge.

At Boise’s Idaho Central Arena, officially a neutral site , WSU wing LeJuan Watts finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and forward Dane Erikstrup added 16 points. Late in the second half, as the Broncos drew within single digits, the Cougars got a key 3-pointer from sophomore guard Isaiah Watts, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

“I thought we had some guys step up and make momentum plays,” WSU coach David Riley said in a postgame radio interview. “Obviously, we didn’t do what we needed to do to hold that lead. That’s something we got to work on. That’s exciting for me, honestly, that we’re winning these big games, and we still have so much more to work on.”

A few days after topping Nevada on the road, a Quad 1 victory, the Cougars (8-2) continue to do it shorthanded. Before Saturday’s game, the CBS broadcast reported Coward is scheduled for shoulder surgery. It’s a costly blow to the Cougars, who have made do without him, but Coward’s shot-creation and defense will leave a void .

Also out for WSU are injured guards Rihards Vavers, Kase Wynott and Marcus Wilson.

Vavers came back Monday against Nevada, but after scoring eight points in 5 minutes, he suffered what looked like a hand injury, sidelining him for Saturday’s game in Boise. That leaves WSU with nine healthy scholarship players.

So far, though, it hasn’t sunk WSU. On Saturday, part of the credit went to Watts, who had his fourth double-double of the season, using his size to power through contact for baskets. Against the Broncos, who entered No. 35 in the NCAA NET rankings, Watts played some of the best basketball of his career.

Watts added six assists , helping to make up for Coward’s absence. He committed four turnovers, but WSU had just 13 times as a team, an encouraging sign compared to past games.

“He’s just been getting more and more consistent every single day,” Riley said of Watts. “He accepts the challenge. He allows me to coach him, and I coach him harder than anyone else on our team right now, and he steps up to that challenge. And it’s just so awesome to see a great person, a great human being like that go have a game like this.”

Watts and the Cougars looked best early on. They raced to a 21-9 lead capped by Watts’ two buckets. The visitors’ offense was flowing the way Riley likes it to. On defense, big men Erikstrup and Ethan Price used their length to establish valuable rim protection, giving the Broncos a hard time getting into any rhythm on offense.

WSU’s lead grew from there. Reserve guard Parker Gerrits kick-started a 9-0 run with the first 3-pointer of his career. Moments later, the Cougs took a 36-15 lead on two more Watts baskets.

The Cougs took a 44-24 lead into halftime.

“We want to get the ball zipping around, get early drag screens and play off flow,” Riley said, “and I thought when we were scoring and beating them by 24, we were playing our pace.”

Boise State put together a second-half rally by controlling the pace, slowing things down and playing their way. They fed Mt. Spokane High graduate Tyson Degenhart, who posted 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and WSU lost 10 of its 13 turnovers in the same span.

On a couple of occasions, the Broncos made things interesting. They trimmed the Cougars’ lead to single digits several times, including when WSU guard Nate Calmese threw an errant pass to BSU wing Andrew Meadows, who turned it into a three-point play, cutting WSU’s lead to 69-62 with 1:06 to play.

But the Cougars put things away at the free-throw line, connecting on 7 of 13 tries in the second half.

Now they get a week off before hosting Missouri State on Saturday.

If nothing else, it shows the coaching savvy of Riley, who has pried two key wins out of his undermanned team.

In one film session after WSU’s win over Nevada, Riley said, he showed the team tweets and commentary from pundits around the country, who were talking about WSU’s “surprise” win.

“Like, what the hell?” Riley said. “We’re a Pac-12 team. We’re gonna go in here. We should win these games. We’ve got the dudes to do it. We gotta make a statement vs. Boise that this is not a surprise anymore. This is who we are.”