WSU Men’s Basketball Eliminated By Portland in WCC Second Round
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Washington State University freshman guard Ace Glass advances the ball in the Cougars’ 74-68 loss to the Portland Pilots in Round 2 of the WCC Tournament. Credit: Washington State Athletics [/caption]
The No. 8-seeded Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team went one-and-done in the West Coast Conference Tournament following a 74-68 loss to No. 9 Portland in the second round on Friday, March 6, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Following a first-round bye, the Cougars appeared to lack confidence on offense in a season-ending defeat against a frisky Pilots group. Portland, which had already earned a win on the same court the night before, took away WSU’s 3-point bread and butter. The Cougars looked lost offensively.
WSU shot just 38% from the field, relying on superstar freshman Ace Glass to carry the offense, but there wasn’t enough output across the group to keep up with Portland (47% from the field).
In just their second WCC Tournament appearance, the Cougars fell two rounds short of their 2025 finish.
Evenly matched first half
Defense dominated a physical first half. The Cougars were well under pace for their regular season average of 76.4 points per game — even after erasing an early seven-point Portland advantage — leading the Pilots 29-25 at halftime.
Neither team shot above 38% from the field as Glass led WSU with nine first-half points. Eight different players scored for the Cougars, however, while Portland got six points each from guards Joel Foxwell, Garrett Nuckolls and Dante Censori-Hercules.
Glass, sinking his 69th 3-pointer of the season in the first half, broke Klay Thompson’s freshman record for makes in a season. The superstar Cougars freshman entered the game fourth in the WCC, averaging 16.3 points per game.
Although each team let it fly from beyond the arc, the Cougars and Pilots combined to shoot 4 of 18 from 3-point range. There was no shortage of attempts, but neither team was consistently sinking shots.
The Pilots were hindered by nine first-half turnovers, which gave the Cougars more opportunities on offense. But that was a credit to an aggressive WSU defense that has historically struggled to get takeaways during the 2025 season.
Portland storms out the gate
The Pilots outscored the Cougars 22-14 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Glass went cold to begin the latter period, while junior forward ND Okafor began to take the lead offensively.
The Cougars had three quick turnovers that allowed the Pilots to begin to get shots up aggressively on offense, and WSU remained cold on offense.
Even as the game continued, turnovers weren’t the issue for WSU. They couldn’t make enough shots.
WSU fell behind 47-43 in that stretch, putting pressure on the team’s stars to step up and save the season. A short run from the Cougars kept it close, but Portland kept its own offensive pressure on a now-floundering WSU defense.
Nuckolls finished with a game-high 23 points (8 of 14 FG) for the Pilots, while Jermaine Ballisager-Webb (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Foxwell (17 points, 10 rebounds) tallied double-doubles.
It didn’t get better for WSU, which began to have its defense break down late. The Pilots took a 62-53 lead with just under five minutes remaining at the back-end of a 10-2 run. Portland’s shots continue to fall with more consistency, while WSU’s continued to plummet.
WSU has lived and died by the 3-point shot all season, converting 37.2% of its long-range shots this season (second in WCC). This was a game where the latter hurt them, converting 9 of 31 shots from that area (29%).
Portland led by as much as 11 down the stretch, thwarting everything WSU tried to do. It was a familiar trend for the Cougars, who have struggled to carry momentum into second halves. Glass made his best effort, finishing with 19 points, but the poor shooting as a team prevented the Cougars from catching up.
The Cougars played it to the end, continuing to try and eat away at an ever-mounting Pilots lead.
Okafor had 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Eemeli Yalaho (11 points) and junior guard Jerone Morton (10) also finished in double figures for the Cougars.
Another disappointing finish
WSU finished its season 12-20 overall, falling to 31-35 since head coach David Riley took over the program before the 2024-25 season. The WCC was always going to be a difficult league for the Cougars to compete in, especially at the top end, but they haven’t proved they can even get into the top tier.
Last season, the Cougars were one win away from facing Gonzaga in the tournament. One year later, they were three wins out of facing the Bulldogs. With a phenomenal freshman like Glass, it’s difficult to stomach regression — regardless of the roster changes from the 2025 campaign.
It could’ve been different, too, if the Cougars were more well-rounded. Instead, the Pilots had a simple recipe for victory against a one-dimensional WSU team and executed it perfectly.
