WSU watches huge lead shrink to single digits in 93-86 win over San Diego

PULLMAN – Exactly six weeks ago, in a sparsely attended gym , Washington State had to sweat out a win over San Diego. The Cougars trailed by as many as seven points, and not until they woke up late in the game did they rally to avoid what would have been a costly loss.

“They’re understanding how hard it is to win, especially on the road,” WSU coach David Riley said in a postgame radio interview.

The Cougars’ season has changed in a drastic way since then. They’ve tumbled out of contention for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth. They dropped five consecutive games – almost six. The injury bug bit them harder than seemed possible.

But on Thursday night, something stayed the same for WSU, which had to eke out another win over San Diego. The Cougars watched a 30-point lead shrink to five in the final moments. The Cougs left with a 93-86 win, but it was an inauspicious closing for the hosts, who had a flurry of turnovers down the stretch to allow the Toreros to make things interesting.

“There weren’t that many times where there was much adversity in the first half, so we were able to stick with each other. We were staying competitive,” said Riley, whose group led by 28 at halftime. “I thought the second half, whether it was just not having our edge or a couple things didn’t go our way, we lost focus. I don’t think we were the more competitive team, and that’s what we need to fight for in this culture. We need to build that every day.”

In the end, it was more of the same from WSU, which committed a season-high 23 turnovers , including seven in the final 3½ minutes. San Diego turned those into 30 points, drawing as close as five with 40 seconds left.

It wasn’t until the Cougs benefited from a couple of Toreros misses that they buttoned things up – and because of a buzzer-beating floater by freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson, the seven-point final margin is a tad misleading.

In their final games of their one season at WSU, big men Dane Erikstrup and Ethan Price scored 23 and 17 points, respectively, for the Cougars, who shot 60% from the floor . Sophomores Isaiah Watts and LeJuan Watts added 13 points apiece. But one of the Cougars’ key cogs was largely absent from the closing stretch.

Point guard Nate Calmese, who scored an uncharacteristically low four points , sat for the final 5:26. That’s about the span when USD turned up the heat on WSU.

Calmese finished with four turnovers, as did teammates Price and LeJuan Watts. Calmese also sat out of layup lines before the second half.

“He’s carried a lot of minutes this season, and that’s typically what he does at halftime,” Riley said of Calmese. “Gets locked in and talks to the coaches about what schemes we’ll be in. Late game, we were mixing things up. He was banged up a little bit. Guy has been playing a lot of minutes and just went with those guys.”

What looked like a coronation of Price, Erikstrup and wing Cedric Coward – who went down with a season-ending shoulder injury just six games into the season – turned into a reprise of all the Cougars’ worst habits. They lost their competitiveness, Riley said, and they nearly lost their 30-point lead. Turnovers plagued them at the worst times, as did their rebounding struggles , as San Diego turned 16 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.

The difference in halves was striking. In the first, the talent gap between the clubs seemed obvious, WSU getting nearly any shot it wanted while forcing San Diego to take difficult ones. Erikstrup scored 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-3 effort on 3-pointers, even using his length to bother USD into a first-half shooting percentage of 31%.

In the final 10 minutes, all of that began to change. The Cougs’ defense transformed from staunch to lackadaisical, letting the Toreros capitalize off turnovers with open looks at the rim and farther away from it. San Diego, which entered last in the WCC with a 3-point shooting mark of 30%, connected on 9 of 19 in the second half (47%).

That’s how San Diego forced WSU to take a long look in the mirror after a win, even forcing Riley to sit his starting point guard when things got dicey.

“I just think we were kind of being casual,” Erikstrup said.

“We were up 30 or something, and we kind of took our foot off the gas, and at that point, the only chance the other team has is to shoot quick shots and turn us over, and they did just that. So we just gotta be better and be more connected in those moments.”

“I think it’s like Dane said, just like a focus thing,” Price added. “Just having that mindset, even when we’re up by 20, 30 points, to be able to still focus and lock in on both ends of the floor, look after the ball better. I think it’s just a focus thing that we’ve gotta work on.”

The Cougars only have so many games to do so. They wrap up the regular season Saturday at Pepperdine. Then it’s off to the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, where they will be either the No. 6 or 7 seed.

If WSU beats Pepperdine and sixth-place LMU loses to first-place Saint Mary’s on Saturday, the Cougars would vault into the No. 6 seed, which comes with a bye to the third round.

There’s also a scenario in which WSU drops to the No. 8 seed, which would happen if the Cougars lose to the Waves and eighth-place Portland beats San Diego, which is also set for Saturday.

In that situation, WSU would play in the No. 8/9 game on March 7.