The Cougars faced the Grambling State Tigers tonight in the first part of a men's-women's double header at Beasley Coliseum. Grambling State scored the first bucket of the game to go up 2-0, but after a quick WSU-three the Cougars took the lead and never gave it back. Three Cougs scored in double figures (Aden-12, Motum-11, Lacy-10) as Washington State routed the Tigers, 69-37. Senior Faisal Aden and junior Brock Motum each scored double figures for the seventh consecutive game, while the Cougars' 32-point victory is the largest of the season.
Player of the Game: Brock Motum. Brock Motum takes home another Player of the Game award after notching his first career double-double. Motum led the Cougars in rebounding, pulling in 10 boards, while going 5-of-11 from the field and 1-for-2 from the free throw line to add 11 points. Motum's 10 rebounds break his previous career-high of eight, most recently achieved against New Mexico last weekend in Anaheim, Calif. This marks the sixth game of the season Motum has led the team in rebounding and the ninth of his career.
Play of the Game: Simon's back-to-back threes off the bench. Patrick Simon earns his first Play of the Game award of the 2011-12 season. Simon subbed into the game with 10 minutes to go and quickly made his presence known. Simon popped a three at the 9:34 mark to push the Cougars lead to 21. Shortly after a made layup by Faisal Aden, Simon received the ball at the top of the arc, elevated, and sunk another three-ball with 8:13 to go and put WSU's lead to 26.
Turning Point: Cougs' 13-3 run to end the half. With five minutes remaining in the first half the Cougars led the Tigers 21-14. Charlie Enquist quickly stepped up and hit a jumper to extend the lead to nine. This was followed later by a Faisal Aden steal with 3:22 to go, allowing DaVonte' Lacy to finish with a jam. During the five-minute span, WSU went 5-for-9 from the floor and converted three of four free throws, while limiting Grambling State to 1-of-8 from the field. At the half, the Cougars went into the locker room up 34-17.
Stat of the Game: Points in the paint. The Cougars outscored the Tigers 28-10 in the key, while limiting Grambling State's two big men (Steven Danridge and Peter Roberson) to a combined 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Cougars fought a hard battle in the paint tonight, pulling down 14 offensive boards and outrebounding Grambling State by 13.
The men's basketball team is now 3-4 on the season and will return to action this Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum as the Cougars host Eastern Washington. The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Northwest.
The Washington State men's basketball team headed straight from Portland, Ore. (after playing at Portland Sunday), down to Anaheim Tuesday, arriving to plenty of sunshine. On Tuesday evening the team had dinner at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney, following a practice at the American Sports Arena. After a hearty meal, the team played the arcade-type games upstairs. The biggest excitement for all came in the racing games, as the guys fought it out to see who was king of the raceway. There was also some basketball shooting, football and baseball throwing and hockey puck hitting, among other games.
The Cougars hosted the Sacramento State Hornets in their home-opener tonight at Beasley Coliseum. This marks the ninth all-time meeting between the two schools. WSU dug themselves a quick hole, not scoring a field goal for the first six minutes of the game and facing an 11-point deficit. Then the Cougs started scoring with their first field goal of the game, courtesy of Faisal Aden, but the Hornets fought back, maintaining a three-point lead at the half. After the half, the Cougars came out shooting, spurring a 7-2 run to start the half. Sacramento State stuck with WSU for a few minutes, but the Cougars took the lead with 11 minutes to go and never looked back, securing a 79-68 victory and their first win of the 2011-12 season.
Player of the Game: Brock Motum. Brock Motum claims his second-straight Player of the Game award for the 2011-12 season with a career-high and game-high 23 points. Motum led the Cougars, shooting 9-for-12 from the field and going 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Motum also led the team in rebounds, pulling in a career-tying eight boards. This is the second-straight game Motum has led the Cougs in scoring and rebounds and the 10th time of his career he has scored double figures.
Play of the Game: Aden's no-look pass to Lacy for the jam. DaVonte' Lacy and Faisal Aden share this week's Play of the Game. Aden rebounded a Hornet missed shot and pushed the ball up the court. Aden drove like he was going for the layup, but stopped at the block and made a no-look, backwards pass to Lacy on the arc who took a quick three steps and pulled the ball back behind his head to slam it home with emphasis, bringing the ZZU CRU to a roar.
Turning Point: Cougs' 8-0 run with 11 minutes left. Shortly before the 11-minute mark in the second half, the game was tied 51-51 with the Cougs and Hornets see-sawing back and forth. With 11 minutes to go DaVonte' Lacy started an 8-0 Cougar run to put Sacramento State away for good. WSU made two layups and got to the stripe five times, converting four free throws, in a 2:23 span. The two teams duked it out for the final eight minutes, but WSU continued to convert buckets and finished the game up by 11 points.
Stat of the Game: Free throws. The biggest reason the Cougars got to the line so much is because Sacramento State committed 25 fouls on the night. WSU stepped up to the stripe 32 times during the 40-minute span. While WSU didn't hit as many of their free throws as they would have hoped (19), they definitely should be glad to have gotten the opportunity. If the Cougars consistently earn this many free throw opportunities and improve their percentage, they will be getting a lot of free points in coming games.
The men's basketball team is now 1-1 on the season and returns to the hardwood this Sunday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Portland against the University of Portland.
Washington State opened its season at No. 22 Gonzaga tonight in front of a crowd of 6,000. All eyes were on the game as it jump-started ESPN's 2011 College Hoops Tip-off Marathon, in which the network airs over 24-consecutive hours of college basketball on its family of networks. The Cougars rallied late, but fell 89-81, thanks in large part to the hot hand of the Bulldogs' Kevin Pangos who tied a school record with nine 3-pointers and a game-high 33 points.
A special thanks to all the Crimson ZZU's Twitter followers (@WSUHoopsBlog) for your input, support and follows! Our player of the game today was picked by those of you on Twitter.
Player of the Game:
Brock Motum. The 6-10 junior from Brisbane, Australia earns the prize for being the most consistent Cougar all night. He finished with a team-high 17 points and career highs with eight rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes. At the half he was 4-for-5 from the field for 10 points.
Play of the Game:
Motum Drives and Skies. Motum continues his accolades on this postgame as he earns play of the game for his first-half dunk. He started on the left baseline, drove against his man and ferociously went up with one hand for the easy two points. He was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw, but his dunk was a powerful one.
Turning Point:
Free throws down the stretch. The turning point looked to be early in the second half, but with the Cougars' late comeback, the turning points instead falls in the final 30 seconds. WSU clawed back from 21 points down with 13 minutes to go and pulled within three at 84-81 and 28 seconds to go in the game. Reggie Moore had just scored six-straight points for the Cougs, a 3-pointer and three free throws after a foul while shooting a trey. The Cougs fouled after Moore's 3-pointer and Robert Sacre made both his free throw shots. WSU couldn't convert on its next three opportunities and Gonzaga made three more free throws to hold on for the 89-81 victory.
Stat of the Game:
Specialty Stats. Points in the paint, points off turnovers and second chance points each waved heavily in one team's favor. Points in the paint and off turnovers belonged to Washington State. The Cougs held a 32-16 advantage in the paint, 12 of which came from Motum. The Cougs had a 23-11 advantage off turnovers, although each team committed 13 turnovers. When it came to second chance points it was all Gonzaga, 19 compared to six. The Bulldogs did win the battle on the boards with 41 compared to 33, 14 on the offensive end.
The Cougars will look for their first win of the season Thursday, Nov. 17 as they host Sacramento State in nonconference action at 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
Washington State men's basketball opens its season shortly, Monday, Nov. 14 in a 9 p.m. tipoff at Gonzaga's McCarthey Athletic Center. The late tip is because the Cougars and Bulldogs start ESPN's Annual College Hoops Tipoff which features 24-plus hours straight of college basketball.
Among the many topics Director of Athletics Bill Moos discusses during his weekly podcast include his memories of Dad's Weekend as a student-athlete; having the opportunity to watch his son, Bo, a defensive lineman for Arizona State on Saturday; welcoming back Steve Gleason to WSU; and Cougar Soccer's upcoming appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Listen to the "Cougar Calls With Bill Moos" show, coaches' news conferences, and interviews with coaches, student-athletes, and more at the WSUCougars.com Podcast Network Page HERE
The Cougars held an exhibition game tonight against Lewis-Clark State College for the fifth-consecutive season. The Warriors stuck with WSU for a few minutes, but the Cougars quickly pulled away and had built a 26-point lead by halftime. Entering the second half, LCSC managed to maintain a consistent margin of deficit. However, the Cougars slowly stretched the lead further and pulled away with an 88-41 win.
Player of the Game:
Davonte' Lacy claims his first Player of the Game award. Lacy played a crucial role in stretching WSU's second half lead, scoring 21 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field, and going 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Lacy went 3-for-3 and scored five straight points in a 50-second span, including a high-flying dunk that brought Beasley to its feet.
Play of the Game:
Davonte' Lacy also earns the Play of the Game, giving the Cougars a burst of energy at the 10-minute mark of the second half. Lacy burned his defender in the deep corner with a quick jab-step and made an explosive, two-step drive down the baseline, elevating to slam it home.
Turning Point:
Early in the game, LCSC was sticking with the Cougars; at the 15-minute mark the game was tied at 8-8. At that point Mike Ladd got the ball rolling for WSU with a pair of free throws, followed quickly by a deep three from Dexter Kernich-Drew. Before you knew it, the Cougars had scored 17 unanswered points and WSU was up 25-8. The Cougs never looked back, extending their lead to 26 by the end of the half and 47 before the final buzzer.
Stat of the Game:
The Cougars shot lights out from all over the court tonight, finishing an impressive 34-of-57 (.596) from the field. WSU also went 11-for-22 (.500) from beyond the arc.
The men's basketball team will return to action Monday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. against No. 23 Gonzaga in Spokane. The game will be televised by ESPN, and will kick off ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.
The Cougs went through their normal Thursday practice
routine, working on special teams in Martin Stadium before the defense went up
to Rodgers practice field to work against the scout team while the offense
worked against the scout defense in the stadium...a lot of energy from the guys
this week, a lot louder and a lot more physical than the past couple weeks...the
team heads to San Francisco tomorrow and will have a walk-thru at AT&T Park,
home of MLB's San Francisco Giants, in the afternoon before checking into the
hotel...we hope to have video from tomorrow's walk-thru...GO COUGS!
This year, WSU Athletics has launched a new web series, 'Cougars Courtside', which features the Washington State men's and women's basketball teams. A new episode will be posted at www.wsucougars.com each Wednesday throughout the season and will include three segments, which will vary, including, an update on the Cougars in the community, coaching tips from coaches Ken Bone and June Daugherty, a behind-the-scenes candid look at the teams, and one-on-one Q&A's with various members of the team.
The Cougars worked out in full pads for just under two hours
Tuesday afternoon...tons of energy coming from both the offense and defense today...whether
it was from defensive coordinator Chris Ball or from quarterback Marshall
Lobbestael, the Cougs turned in one of their better practices of the season
today...the defense was flying around, as a number of players picked off passes
against the scout team while Lobbestael fired strikes to the receivers all
over the field and the o-line continued to give Lobbestael time...last week's team awards were: Jared Karstetter-offensive,
Damante Horton-defensive, Bennett Bontemps -special teams for second straight
week, Deone Bucannon-big hit, Horton-Big play, Zach Johnson-scout offense, Tana
Pritchard-scout defense for second straight week and third time this season ...GO
COUGS!
