WSU pulls away from San Francisco with giant second-half run, earning key resume-building win in a 91-82 victory

PULLMAN – During a break in the action, midway through the massive run Washington State used to complete a 91-82 win over San Francisco on Saturday evening, assistant coach George Galanopoulos turned to head coach David Riley.

“Make sure you get a second and appreciate this,” Galanopoulos told Riley, “because this is cool.”

During the second-half timeout, Riley did take a second. He looked around at the Beasley Coliseum crowd, with an official attendance of 3,823, and listened to the roar. He looked at the crimson-clad fans, who had energized the arena during the Cougars’ 23-1 run, and absorbed the gravity of the moment.

It doesn’t happen every day at WSU, which ended a 16-year NCAA Tournament drought last season with a second-round appearance. But the more the Cougars have outings like these, securing a Quad 2 victory and moving to 13-3 overall (3-0 WCC), the more they make another trip to the dance seem feasible.

Wing LeJuan Watts earned a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, forward Ethan Price added 20 points and three more scored in double figures for the Cougs, who scored 16 straight halfway through the second half to turn a five-point deficit into an 11-point advantage. After a stray USF free throw, WSU added six straight, capping a 23-1 swing that changed the game.

The run included Watts’ layup and seven straight free throws, with four from Price after a technical foul on San Francisco coach Chris Gerlufsen. After that, forward Dane Erikstrup hit a 3-pointer, guard Nate Calmese got to the basket for two, Erikstrup hit two free throws and followed with another 3-pointer, and freshman guard Tomas Thrastarson converted two free throws before Calmese capped the run with a jumper.

It’s the fourth straight win for the Cougs, who are tied for first place in the WCC. To beat San Francisco, which entered No. 60 in the NET rankings, WSU got 18 points from forward Erikstrup, 10 from Thrastarson and 16 from Calmese, who played an uncharacteristically low 23 minutes, saddled with foul trouble for much of this one.

It added up to a key resume-building win for Washington State, which continues to rack up wins without four key players out with injures.

Put it all together and you get a sterling coaching outing from Riley, the first-year WSU coach who isn’t just making his former Eastern Washington players look comfortable in the WCC. He’s helping them look like some of the conference’s best.

“Over the course of the game, I think our advantages showed more than theirs,” said Riley, whose club hosts Pacific on Thursday. “There (were) times where their guard play was really good, and they were cutting us up and driving us. But for the most part, especially that second half, I thought our size inside – we did a better job exploiting that than they did with the guards. Just mental toughness, and just proud of these guys for learning how to finish games a little bit better.”

Riley and the Cougars had to get creative on defense to lock down the win. San Francisco guard Malik Thomas torched WSU for 27 points in the first half. He knocked down two 3-pointers. He took defenders to the basket, whether guards or slower-footed forwards, and the Cougars had few answers. Single coverage wasn’t working, and WSU went into halftime down 49-48.

The Cougars’ transition defense was lacking, and Thomas took advantage. He connected on just two 3s, but many of his six attempts were open. Overall, the Cougars weren’t communicating nearly well enough to contain Thomas, and they paid for it.

Not long into the second half, that began to change. WSU began to send two at Thomas, whether off a ball screen or without one, which was Riley’s plan. If they could force him to give it up, Riley figured, his team stood a better chance. He got his wish not only because WSU did well to double Thomas, but because the Cougars rotated quickly when Thomas passed outside, taking away many of the Dons’ 4-on-3 opportunities.

“We just kind of talked about our rotations, and our guys figured that out a little bit better,” Riley said. “Tomas had some good stands, and multiple other guys. I thought Dane and Ethan did a good job when we were switching, keeping him in front and sending him the right way. So it was a team effort.”

“Attacking him, making him a little bit tired on our offensive side of the floor,” Watts said. “Then attacking him on fouls. They had to sub him out every offensive time we were down there.”

Thomas managed only seven points in the second half, giving him 34 for the game. He fouled out with a shade over 4 minutes to go, toward the tail end of WSU’s giant run, sending a wave of noise through the crowd. The Cougs were pulling away, and with the Dons’ best player out of the game, they could sense another win on the horizon.

One big reason for the win was the way they handled the game with Calmese on the bench with foul trouble. The team’s leading scorer with injured Cedric Coward out, Calmese picked up his fourth foul with 15:35 to play, earning him a spot on the bench as WSU faced a 58-57 deficit.

Six minutes of game time later, when Calmese subbed back in, the Cougars had vaulted ahead 66-63. With Calmese back in the fold, he helped continue his team’s game-changing run – but it was guard Parker Gerrits who spelled him. With Calmese on the bench and many of their best shot-creators on the shelf, the Cougars needed a ball-handler to set things up. In 16 minutes, Gerrits obliged.

“That’s something I’ve just been really excited to see these last few weeks, is Parker’s poise,” Riley said. “Just his ability to play with confidence the last few weeks, and he’s made a huge impact.”