WSU guard Isaiah Watts to miss several weeks with injury to non-shooting hand

Washington State can’t find much luck on the injury front.

Cougar guard Isaiah Watts will miss several weeks with an injury to his non-shooting left hand, a team spokesman confirmed to The Spokesman-Review on Saturday, taking him out of action for the club’s WCC opener at Portland, set for 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.

The injury to Watts, who is averaging 12.5 points on 39% shooting from beyond the arc, happened during the Cougs’ loss to rival Washington in Seattle on Dec. 18. That forced him to miss the next game, a win over Northern Iowa on Dec. 21 in Las Vegas.

A sophomore, Watts had started each of his last six games for the Cougars (10-3), bumping his minutes to nearly 30 per game as he became a key cog, particularly in the absence of star wing Cedric Coward, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Freshman guard Marcus Wilson is also out for the year with his own shoulder injury, and transfer wing Rihards Vavers is likely to miss the rest of the season with broken bones in both hands.

Watts, who is also averaging 4.8 rebounds per game, is the team’s best shooter. He’s the Cougs’ top catch-and-shoot threat, sinking four or more triples on five occassions this season: 4-for-5 against Portland State, 4-for-6 against Northern Colorado, 4-for-7 against Eastern Washington, 5-for-8 against Nevada and 4-for-7 against Missouri State, knocking down timely triples in a win over Boise State as well.

Watts’ absence will likely result in another bump in minutes for 6-foot-6 freshman wing Tomas Thrastarson, who started in Watts’ place against Northern Iowa. In that game, Thrastarson totaled 7 points and 3 rebounds in 27 minutes, earning praise from coach David Riley for his sturdy defense. The team likes his size and his versatility.

It’s also possible Watts misses WSU’s road matchup against No. 14 Gonzaga, which is set for Jan. 11 in Spokane. It’s the Cougs and Zags’ first clash since 2015.

Watts’ injury means operating without two of its top scorers, plus two important rotational pieces in Wilson and Vavers, the last of whom reinjured his hand in the Cougs’ road win over Nevada on Dec. 2. That was after he injured his hand in WSU’s season-opening win over Portland State on Nov. 4. Vavers was averaging 4.5 points on 33% shooting from deep in 10.5 minutes per game.

Wilson, who was averaging 1.5 points in 7.3 minutes per game, suffered his injury during WSU’s loss to Iowa in Illinois on Nov. 15.

It leaves WSU with only a handful of healthy scholarship players: Leading scorer Nate Calmese, forwards Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup, wing LeJuan Watts, forward ND Okafor, Thrastarson, freshman guard Kase Wynott and reserve guard Parker Gerrits, the last of whom played a career-high 14 minutes against Northern Iowa.

All will need to step up to cover for the loss of Watts, which is what happened against UNI. Erikstrup, LeJuan Watts and Calmese all scored in double figures, racing to a huge lead before having to make some plays down the stretch to zip up the win It was the latest installment of shaky closing minutes from WSU, which Riley has acknowledged and vowed to improve.

The Cougars’ next opportunity to do so comes Saturday evening in Portland.