Washington State can’t match Saint Mary’s second-half blitz in 77-56 road loss

Washington State will likely head back to the Pullman happy with the way the first half of a Saturday road trip to Saint Mary’s went in Moraga, California.

The Cougars weren’t perfect, but they hung with the first-place Gaels, taking an early lead and later tying the game with back-to-back 3-pointers.

But WSU will have worse memories of the second half, which is when Saint Mary’s pulled away to secure a 77-56 win, handing the Cougars their sixth loss in seven games. Down only four at halftime, the Cougars couldn’t keep up with the Gaels, who used a 16-2 run to put the game out of reach.

“I think when you look at the offensive game from us, we had a couple stretches where we weren’t patient enough, and they have elite rim protecting bigs, and they have elite rim protection, WSU coach David Riley said in a postgame radio interview.

“So when we would try to score off that first side, it’s tough, and I think that got away from us a couple times offensively.”

As the regular season winds down, the setback keeps WSU (16-11, 6-8 WCC) in seventh place in the WCC standings.

If the Cougars can leap into sixth, they would earn a bye to the quarterfinals at the conference tournament, set for next month in Las Vegas. If not, they’re slated to play the No. 10 or 11 seed in the first round.

In their second-lowest scoring output of the season, the Cougars couldn’t crack the Gaels’ sturdy defense, shooting just 41% for the game.

The visitors had 16 turnovers, which Saint Mary’s turned into 22 points. The Gaels (23-4, 13-1) also pulled down 13 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points, reminding the Cougs of two problems that have followed them around all season.

After playing the Gaels closely in the teams’ first game, WSU turned in a slower offensive outing in Moraga, where the Gaels held the Cougs’ best scorers in check. Guard Nate Calmese managed only five points in 26 minutes. Forward Dane Erikstrup added six. Wing LeJuan Watts scored 17 points, but he also committed six turnovers – as many as the Gaels had as a team.

All those mistakes began to pile up at the beginning of the second half, when the hosts put things away. Wing Paulius Murauskas scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half, allowing his teammates to flourish in the second, including a 16-point outing from guard Augustas Marciullionis and a 12-point showing from guard Jordan Ross.

It was too much scoring to handle for the Cougs, who had only five bench points, three from ND Okafor and two from Ri Vavers. Isaiah Watts added 12 points, and Ethan Price followed with 11, but the latter missed a chunk of the second half with foul trouble.

“Defensively, you give a team like that uncontested layups and uncontested shots at the rim, that’s where it can hurt you,” Riley said. “I feel like they scored, I don’t know, 15 to 20 points in that first five, six minutes of that second half.

“You gotta guard this team, and you gotta hold them to one shot if you’re going to have a chance on the road.”

The Cougs get a few days off before returning home Wednesday to host Gonzaga, the teams’ first meeting in Pullman since 2013. Last month in Spokane, the Cougars also kept things close for a half against the Zags, only for things to fall apart later in the second half.

It’s how Washington State’s road loss to Saint Mary’s went. To turn things around on Wednesday, the Cougars will need to be better.

“I think it’ll be great to have Beasley behind us to go attack that game,” Riley said. “We’ve shown we can go win those games. We gotta compete for 40 minutes.”