A Grip on Sports: The Cougars’ disappointing performance against Pacific gives the weekend a bit of a false start

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Being self-aware is important. That’s why I can say with no uncertainty that I am not a great prognosticator. And not a bettor. But I am someone willing to own up to my failures in both.

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• If I was the latter, there would have been no stopping me Thursday. A little of my retirement nest egg would have been wagered on one West Coast Conference men’s game. I probably would have barely glanced at the line. No matter. Give me Washington State and lay the points.

There was no way the Cougars were losing to Pacific twice in one season. This time they were going to shut down Lamar Washington, every other Tiger and blow the conference’s last-place team to smithereens. Heck, I was so sure of the outcome, I wrote this in yesterday’s column: “Count on the Washington State men avenging their first WCC loss of the season when they visit Pacific tonight.”

And, ladies and gentlemen, this is why I never bet. Despite the hours and hours and hours of Madison Avenue’s cajoling me to join everyone else in America, to download an easy-to-use app, to find joy in risking just a little of my cash. They didn’t build all those Vegas palaces on the backs of winners.

What the heck happened in Stockton?

The easy answer is the injuries suffered early on by David Riley’s first WSU team have caught up with the Cougars. And that’s part of the problem for a team that began 13-3 but is 15-8 after Thursday’s 70-68 loss. But there is more, and Riley – showing his self-awareness – knows it is on him.

“I gotta figure out what buttons to push,” he told the S-R’s Greg Woods after the loss, “because we’re not coming out with the fight we need.”

Funny thing about “fight” in a basketball sense. It usually shows itself on the defensive end. In the first loss to Pacific – winners of only two WCC games, both at WSU’s expense – the Cougars didn’t get it done in a 95-90 overtime decision. In Pullman. That wasn’t the problem Thursday, until the final few minutes.

Riley’s team needed stops. Couldn’t get them. In the Tigers (7-17) final five possessions after the final media time out, they scored on four of them – and the other included two missed free throws and an offensive rebound.

One more stop, and the bleeding – WSU has lost 5 of 7 – stops too.

• Ok, put that disappointment in the rearview. It’s time to look ahead to a weekend filled with anticipation. Oh, no. Not for what’s on the TV this weekend, but the next one. The Super Bowl. Kansas City’s third consecutive win and Patrick Mahomes’ fourth overall. Or another title for Jalen Hurts and Philly.

No way I’m betting on this one. Though I do love the over – on the length of the National Anthem, whatever it is.

What is there to watch this weekend? Lots of college hoops, of course. Saturday’s slate among the men is covered with local connections from start to finish. At 9 a.m., Wake Forest, with two former Gonzaga players (Hunter Sallis, Efton Reid) and a former WSU assistant coach (Matt Woodley), hosts Pitt (ESPN2). At 8 p.m., the Zags cap the night with their showdown in Moraga (ESPN). In between, former GU assistant Tommy Lloyd leads Arizona into the madhouse that is Arizona State’s home arena (10 a.m., CBS), Eastern Washington is at Weber State (noon, ESPN+), Idaho is in Pocatello to face Central Valley grad Dylan Darling and Idaho State (1, ESPN+) and WSU tries to bounce back in USF’s War Memorial gym (7, ESPN+).

There are also four matchups featuring two Top 25 teams, the best of which is first, No. 5 Florida at eighth-ranked Tennessee (9 a.m., ESPN).

Funny, though. Sunday, with no NFL except the Pro Bowl festivities on the schedule, the men basically take the day off. The women? Though almost every Top 25 team plays, there is only one matchup – No. 12 Kentucky and No. 13 Oklahoma – and it’s on the SEC Network (1 p.m.), not a wide-reaching national entity.

That doesn’t bother me. The time won’t be wasted. I’ll be too busy wagering on the Pro Bowl game (noon, ABC). Just kidding. It was sure-thing Pro Bowl wager back in 1974 that cured my gambling itch. I had a can’t miss 100-1 parley with the local book: NFC plus 1.5 and Kenny Stabler with more completions than cigarettes smoked.

If that were a true betting story, I would have lost them both.

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WSU: Greg was in Stockton – sorry, buddy – yesterday and has a game story on the Cougars’ third consecutive loss. … The women fared better in Pullman, as Eleonora Villa scored 23 points in an 82-70 win over the Tigers. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, ESPN and ACC agreed to a reworked media deal yesterday, staving off, for a while at least, the destruction of the conference. Jon Wilner delves into the agreement and what it means in the Mercury News. … Wilner also looks ahead to next season’s Big Ten football race. … We also can pass along a look at that conference’s portal additions. … Christian Caple takes and early look at Washington’s defensive depth chart. … A former Oregon State quarterback is trying a different pro sport. … The Beavers are spending quite a bit on the coaching staff. … An Arizona player spent quite a bit of his time, and his blood, helping a fellow human being. As we all should. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, Colorado State is retooling its football program in anticipation of moving into the Pac-12. … In basketball news, man, the Big Ten’s travel is tough. The Oregon men traveled all the way to Pauley Pavilion and basically didn’t show up for the second half, steamrolled by UCLA 78-52. The Bruins have won five consecutive games. … The son of a former Arizona standout is headed to USC, not the Wildcats. … San Diego State would be so much better if not for one major injury. … The Oregon women posted a signature win, topping No. 16 Michigan State on the road. … Oregon State snapped a four-game losing streak by handling Pepperdine.  

Gonzaga: The Bulldog women maintained their hold on the WCC’s top spot with a comfortable 64-48 win over last-place San Diego in McCarthey. Of course, whenever Yvonne Ejim is on the court, it makes life pretty comfortable for the Zag fans. The grad senior grabbed eight rebounds, becoming the first GU player with 1,000 in her career, and scored a game-high 25 points. Greg Lee was there and has this coverage. … Colin Mulvany was also in the Kennel and he has this photo gallery. … Theo Lawson caught up with former Zag standout Elle Tinkle Jones, who was in the Kennel for the recent GU rout of her dad’s team, Oregon State. The “Jones” comes from another Zag, Jeremy Jones, her husband and four-year Bulldog. … With Saint Mary’s on tap Saturday, Jim Meehan connected with Steve Kroner, who covers the Gaels. They had a conversation. … The Gaels continue their Lithuanian connection, with two members this season. … A national writer takes a quick peek at the Bulldog men. Those of us who have followed the program since the last century still refer to them as Bulldogs pretty often, right? Just wanted to make sure. … We have another Julian Strawther story to pass along, this one from Denver.

EWU: It was a good day – literally – for the Eastern women, who rallied just after noon for a 78-71 overtime win over visiting Idaho State. The men, however, were torched by Darling, who had 29 points in the Bengals home win. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Weber State is added an alum to the football coach staff. … In basketball news, we have a connection to Montana women’s basketball coach Brian Holsinger, who was a WSU assistant while we were in Pullman. Holsinger has been on a leave of absence for a while, with the Missoulian’s columnist wondering what is going on with the news Holsinger has put his house up for sale. … The Montana women dominated Portland State last night. … Montana State has won 12 consecutive games. … The Montana men scored at will in topping the Vikings. … A Montana State player topped the 1,000-point mark in a win over Sacramento State.

Idaho: The Vandals swept aside Weber State, with the women winning 77-62 in Moscow and the men grabbing an 82-74 decision in Ogden.

Preps: Mead finished an undefeated run through the Greater Spokane League’s wrestling season by handling district rival Mt. Spokane a 53-11 “Glowdown Showdown” loss. Madison McCord was there and has this coverage. … Dave Nichols has a roundup of Thursday’s other action as well as a story on Reardan senior standout Jakari Singleton.

Golf: Hey, a Rory McIlroy hole-in-one. That wasn’t the best part of watching the Golf Channel yesterday. Bathing in the warm Pacific waters was – figuratively, of course, as the ocean is freezing around Pebble Beach and we were in our living room.

Seahawks: The Hawks have some key offseason dates coming up.

SuperSonics: George Karl is still around. And still likes to talk about his time with the Sonics.

Kraken: Seattle scored a quartet of goals in the second period and went on to top San Jose 6-2 without Philipp Grubauer.  

Mariners: The big free agent signing we all have been waiting for finally happened Thursday. Just kidding. There is no way re-signing Jorge Polanco can be labeled big. But it was a signing. And the M’s seemed to have found their third baseman.

Sounders: Was there enough added in the offseason for Seattle to contend in 2025? … Cristian Roldan found some clarity about his role with the team.

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• The nice part of rain? The area needs the moisture. The bad part of it? The soothing sounds of it hitting the roof threw off our internal clock today. Late start. A quick posting with only a few links was necessary. We’ll be right back with more. Until later …