In WSU’s win over UW, Jaylen Wells shows he can fill a big need — secondary shot-creation
SEATTLE – Jaylen Wells couldn’t get his mind off the midrange. He was repping shots, getting in some off-day work to prepare for his Washington State team’s clash with rival Washington on Saturday, and he was hammering midrange jumpers.
Donald Watts, a former UW star and the father of WSU guard Isaiah Watts, was in charge of the workout. He wanted Wells, a 6-foot-8 wing, to polish his 15-footer. At the Watts Basketball Academy, a gym right next to the Seattle Mariners’ T-Mobile Park, Wells shot them over and over and over.
“So I knew I was ready to hit the midrange today,” Wells said.
Wells might owe his teammate one now. He didn’t just hit a massive midrange jumper to help his Cougars clip the Huskies in a 90-87 overtime classic. He also used the threat of it to send one defender flying by, duck under and finish at the rim, two critical baskets that served two purposes.
They helped WSU hold on for what turned into its fourth Quadrant 1 win of the season. They also underscored the way Wells is blossoming into a secondary shot creator, the kind the Cougs desperately need as opponents key in on them.
Guard Myles Rice, the redshirt freshman who sunk a triple for the final margin Saturday, gets most defenses’ best shots. He’s WSU’s main ball-handler, and with the ability to create off the dribble, opponents have tried all manner of ways to slow him: Taking away his ability to use ball screens, sending double teams, playing zone defenses.
That hasn’t always worked – Rice went for 18 points on two long balls in Saturday’s game – but when it has, Washington State has languished. The best example came in mid-January, in WSU’s overtime loss to Cal, which played the Cougs’ ball screens in a way that prevented Rice from taking advantage of them and playing downhill.
The Golden Bears also double-teamed the Cougs’ post players, which put them in a bind. They had nowhere to go on offense. Who could take the pressure off Rice and get a basket?
Perhaps the best news for WSU, which has now won six of seven games, out of Saturday’s win is this: Wells is becoming that guy. He scored 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. He missed all three 3-pointers he tried, but the point is that when the Cougs needed a basket, Wells proved he could step up.
“I feel like I’ve been in these situations many times before,” Wells said. “I haven’t really been hitting the midrange consistently this year, but I knew I could hit it.”
Washington State and coach Kyle Smith placed a big bet on Wells by recruiting him. Wells comes from Sonoma State, a Division-II school in northern California. In his second and final season there, Wells averaged 22.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, shooting 52% from the field, including 44% on 3-pointers.
It was clear he was capable at that level. Could he produce at a higher one? He’s making Smith look like a genius by bringing him in.
Even with his scoring, though, it’s something of a catch-22 for Washington State. Rice is becoming one of the Pac-12’s best players, and he’s proving it by delivering in crunch time, by using his quickness to get to the basket and finish in all kinds of crazy ways. He’s efficient and smart, and he leverages those qualities in the biggest moments.
But the more he proves how dangerous he is, the more he rises up the scouting report for opponents, which devote more resources to slowing him down. Rice didn’t score at all in Saturday’s second half, in part because the Huskies paid closer attention to him on defense, and it dragged WSU’s offense down in a meaningful way.
The Cougs almost paid for it to the tune of a loss. Instead, in came Wells, who used his size and his handle to free himself for two of the biggest buckets of his life.
The first, which trimmed Washington State’s deficit to one in the final 90 seconds of regulation, went like this: Rice didn’t like the look he saw on the perimeter, so he swung it to Wells, who called Isaac Jones up to set a screen. Wells rejected it, crossed over to his left, took two dribbles and head-faked his defender into the air.
UW guard Anthony Holland fell for it, which gave Wells space to slide past him. He double-clutched as he jumped forward, using a deft touch to bank it in off the glass.
Moments later, Wells had the ball in his hands again, WSU needing points to take the lead, the regulation clock nearing 30 seconds. Rice had just come off a ball screen, but nothing was open, so he shuffled the ball to Wells. The shot clock read 7 seconds. The Cougs needed to go.
So Wells asked Holland to dance again. He dribbled to his right and stepped back, which gave him some space to really get to work. With the quickest hesitation, he prompted Holland to jump forward, so Wells dribbled forward and left. From about 15 feet, he rose up, saw through a solid contest and buried the shot. Wells flexed and unleashed a scream on his way back on defense.
In situations like these, it’s clear Wells gives the Cougs what they need, an off-the-dribble scorer when Rice is blanketed. “We’re a little light there,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said after that Cal loss.
With a long frame and a reliable jumper, Wells is filling that void, which might continue to pay dividends as WSU looks to boost its NCAA Tournament resume with next weekend’s games against Oregon and Oregon State, both on the road.