Basketball: Washington State faces first test of season at Boise State
The Cougars have their first real test of the season when they travel to Idaho to face Boise State on Saturday in their first road game.
Washington State had a slow start against Texas State on Monday, but two double-double performances by sophomore forward Mouhamed Gueye and junior guard Justin Powell in a dominant second half of basketball led the Cougars to an 83-61 win in the season opener.
Meanwhile, the Broncos had a tough home opener, falling just short against South Dakota State, 68-66, in a back-and-forth battle.
Redshirt senior Max Rice led Boise State with 21 points, but the Broncos struggled from 3-point range and had to rely on Rice for all their 3 on Wednesday in the loss.
Washington State exploded in the second half of its season debut with 45 points and got the offense going after a back-and-forth first half, shooting 45 percent from 3 as a team and 52.7 percent overall from the field.
The Broncos were one of the best defensive teams in the country last year en route to Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, earning a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament and losing to Memphis in the opening round.
These two squads met last year in the non-conference slate in late December in Spokane and the Cougars came up a little bit short, 58-52.
Injury update
The Cougars will still be missing junior forward Andrej Jakimovski, who is out for two weeks with a toe injury and is currently in a walking boot. True freshman guard Dylan Darling was considered day-to-day going into Monday’s game against the Bobcats but only played for 3 minutes in the opener and only got a personal foul on the state sheet in his WSU debut. No word of how his minutes may increase against Boise State on the road.
Keys to the win
Offense: The Cougars are going to need to establish the 3-point game early, along with leveraging their size inside the paint -- Gueye and his size advantage should be an asset in this matchup. Distributing the ball will be a key as well, with Boise State playing in the lanes. WSU needs to make sure it is passing around the Broncos’ defense and to not force anything if it isn’t there or take advantage of open lanes when they have the chance.
Defense: Staying out of early foul trouble will be the No. 1 key for this young Cougars team, after a rough game controlling foul trouble early in the first half against Texas State. At one point, Gueye along with senior forward DJ Rodman, junior guard TJ Bamba and junior forward Carlos Rosario were all playing Monday’s contest with four fouls. Rosario entered foul trouble in the first half with three quick fouls, and then as the game continued, Rodman, Gueye and Bamba all had quick fouls in the second half. Boise State loves to draw fouls while driving to the basket, and the Cougars need to make sure no one gets in early foul trouble. WSU will probably be seeing a lot of senior forward Naje Smith, a pivotal bench role player for the Broncos who got a lot of minutes in their home opener against the Jackrabbits can get inside and play bully ball, which the Cougars will have to watch out for.
Game info
According to ESPN Analytics, the Cougars have a 51.2 percent chance to win on Saturday on the road.
Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. MST/4 p.m. PST on Saturday from Idaho Central Arena in Boise and can only be viewed on the Mountain West Network or Stadium.