Washington State Fizzles in Second Half, Saint Mary’s Pulls Away for 83-67 Win

The Washington State Cougars hung with Saint Mary's for nearly 27 minutes on Saturday night, but a cold half from beyond the arc and a lack of stops down the stretch allowed the favored Gaels to pull away for an 83–67 victory in Pullman.

For much of the game, the Cougars showed they were capable of competing with one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference. However, they needed to play at their best for 40 minutes and once Saint Mary’s started to pull away, Washington State wasn’t able to make another run to get back in it in the closing minutes.

Washington State shot the ball from three-point range really well in the first half, going 7-12 from downtown, sending coach David Riley’s team into the break trailing 40-39.

Ace Glass, who had been quiet over the previous couple of games, finished with 15 points. With him being the number one guy on each team's scouting reports, it has been harder as the season has moved along to create his own shots. He has done a good job at times getting his teammates involved, but against the Gaels on Saturday night, he had only one assist.

ND Okafor also contributed 15 points, holding his own against a huge and physical Saint Mary’s frontline. Rihards Vavers, who has improved leaps and bounds from last year to this year, especially on the defensive end, added 12 points and a pair of three pointers.

For close to 30 minutes, thanks to the three-ball finding the bottom of the net often, Washington State hung tough against a clear NCAA tournament team. But the final 13 minutes told a different story. The Gaels tightened up defensively and found another gear on offense, outscoring the Cougars 28–14 down the stretch. During that span, Washington State’s three-point shooting cooled significantly.

Along with the hoop having a phantom lid on top of it, the Cougars’ inability to string together stops late in the game allowed the Gaels’ lead to grow quickly. It’s a reminder that beating high level teams demands a complete game, something that simply didn’t happen on Saturday.

With the loss, Washington State now sits in sixth place in the WCC standings, just one game back of fourth place. The positioning is important, as seeding can play a major role in the conference tournament for a team looking to make an unexpected run towards a surprise automatic NCAA tournament berth. The Cougars have two regular-season games remaining, both of which are very winnable games.

They will travel to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday before heading to Pepperdine on Saturday. Strong performances in those games would help Washington State regain confidence and improve its standing heading into WCC tournament play, potentially being seeded as high as fourth in the bracket.