Washington State gets hot early, cruises to 96-81 win over Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington guard Nic McClain heads to the basket as Washington State forward LeJuan Watts defends during the first half of Thursday’s nonconference game at the Arena.

The snowball started courtesy of Nate Calmese, who gave Washington State some breathing room early in Thursday’s meeting with Eastern Washington by scoring eight straight points – a 3-pointer, a breakaway dunk and another 3-pointer.

It picked up steam thanks to big man Dane Erikstrup, who greeted his old team with six straight points – one 3-pointer from straightaway and another from the wing. The last bucket punctuated a string of 14 straight points from WSU, which didn’t need much more separation in a 96-81 nonconference win over Eastern Washington at Spokane the Arena.

“I thought it was a fun game for a lot of reasons, and great to see us come out and play the way we did,” said WSU coach David Riley, the Eagles’ head coach the previous three seasons. “I think we had 16 assists in the first 15 minutes, and played Washington State basketball for about 15 minutes, and figured out how to win the game after that. I think we’re showing a little more signs of life, and it was fun to get a win.”

That was the story of the game for the Cougars (5-1), who ran away from the Eagles thanks in large part to their perimeter shooting, connecting on 16 of 30 shots from beyond the arc. In the first game between WSU and EWU since coach David Riley left the latter school for the former, the Eagles-turned-Cougars did some heavy lifting, including 24 points from Erikstrup, 6 six points and 5 five assists from LeJuan Watts and a complete game from senior wing Cedric Coward: 22 points, nine 9 rebounds and 7 seven assists.

Calmese, who scored 19 points, also acquitted himself well. That was after he scored only 4 four points in a win earlier this week over Northern Colorado. He has sandwiched a 27-point outing and a 19-point showing around that game. He may not be a perfect player – on one sequence on Thursday night, Riley yanked him from the game after he fell asleep on defense and allowed an and-one layupa three-point play – but his scoring punch has proven invaluable for WSU.

The Cougars’ offense also sang because of sophomore guard Isaiah Watts, who made four treys 3-pointers for 22 points, good for his second consecutive game scoring in double figures. He has now knocked down 8 of his last 13 3-point attempts. After a brutal 0-for-13 stretch, which spanned three games and WSU’s only loss of the season, Watts is back on track, doing what he does best: hitting catch-and-shoot 3s.

“It’s just a matter of finding the when,” Riley said. “When do I take these shots? When do I attack like that? And that’s the hard part about our system. It’s not a very concrete, ‘You’re gonna do this every single time.’ And he’s just finding that. You guys can see by the results the last two games. He’s starting to come along. He looks better.”

WSU, which used its electric shooting to race to a 51-36 lead, saw its offense slow in the second half. EWU tightened up its perimeter defense, limiting the Cougars to only four triples 3-pointers in the second stanza half, and former Eagle Ethan Price fouled out without attempting a single shot.

The Cougars had 21 turnovers, leading to 24 Eagles points. Calmese coughed up five turnovers, while Coward and power forward ND Okafor had four apiece.

“I just think it’s from lack of focus,” Riley said. “We have a team that has stretches where we don’t turn the ball over. When we get focused on other stuff, or we get lost in the last play, or we get lost in whatever they’re doing – I don’t know. We have to be a little bit emotionally stronger to get those turnovers down.”

But the Cougars, who led for all but 59 seconds, had more than enough cushion to earn the win. Much of that credit goes to Coward, who turned in his second straight sterling game, using his two-way abilities for his best game in the crimson and gray.

He added two blocks and a steal to his ledger.

It comes on the heels of his best scoring outing, a 30-point outburst in WSU’s win over Northern Colorado on Monday. In that one, Coward proved his importance then by taking over in the scoring column when he needed to most.

On Thursday night, he put on display his full capabilities, impacting the game in the box score’s furthest reaches.

“I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win,” Coward said, “whether it’s scoring the ball, dishing assist, getting rebounds, whatever (I have) to do. We’re a great shooting teams, so these guys make it kind of easy to get the assist, if I can just make the right play and make the right pass.”

The Cougars have now eclipsed 90 points in four of six games, including a 100-point effort in their season-opening win over Portland State. It’s turned into a pattern, atrend that indicates the Cougars are playing the type of basketball Riley envisions for the program: fast-paced, effective shooting, free-flowing offense. WSU’s read-and-react system is starting to hit its stride.

WSU – which returns to action Tuesday against Fresno State in Palm Springs, California, the site of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational – must clean up its turnover problem to take its next step on offense.

Washington State forward Ethan Price grabs a loose ball as Sam Stockton, right, gives chase during the first half of Thursday’s game at the Arena.