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.
Waving the flag for Wazzu,
Jim Crawford
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.
Waving the flag for Wazzu,
Jim Crawford
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