Cougars comeback falls just short in Pac-12 quarterfinals vs. Oregon
Washington State was down as much as 19 points early in the first half Thursday, but the Cougars then mounted a comeback to eventually take the lead with just under 6 minutes left in the game.
A little more late-season magic for a team that had won seven straight games coming into the day?
Ultimately, no, as Oregon held on with some clutch baskets and big-time play from center N’Faly Dante to give the Ducks the 75-70 win in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas.
WSU (17-16) came out flat on both sides of the ball in the first half with not much offensive rhythm against the Ducks’ defense, and the Cougars came out very exhausted defensively, leading to a huge 34-15 lead for Oregon (19-13) with 5:10 left in the first half.
The Ducks shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half and it seemed they were controlling the boards along with the pace of the game throughout -- absolute dominance early on from coach Dana Altman’s team.
But Washington State would connect on 47.8 percent of its 3-point attempts (11 of 23) to pull back into the game.
The Cougars ended the first half on a 10-0 run to cut an 18-point lead down to 8 at halftime to create the momentum that would make the rest of the game very interesting.
WSU capitalized on the Ducks’ missed field goals, starting with a couple free throws from forward Andrej Jakimovski, and ended with an open 3-point shot from Jakimovski with 47 seconds left in the first half.
“Yeah, I think Carlos [Rosario] was the one that started it,” Cougars coach Kyle Smith said. “They were getting layups and the guys took it upon themselves to keep those guys in front in the second half and did a better job of keeping them out of the paint.”
Said guard Justin Powell: “We just fought, especially our second group, who came in and battled. Guys like Carlos kind of helped us get into that and it went from 18 to like, 5 at one point.”
Washington State took the lead four times in the final 10 minutes of the game, the last being a 70-68 lead with 3:36 to go after a Gueye dunk.
But the Cougars didn't score again as the Ducks -- and a huge block by Dante with just over 30 seconds remaining -- clamped down defensively in the final minutes.
Most of the Cougars' offensive production came from the starting five, but they were without Powell for a majority of the second half as he dealt with some kind of injury to his chest/stomach that needed to be wrapped.
Powell came back and finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds while TJ Bama led the Cougars with 19 points and Mouhamed Gueye scored 14.
“It would’ve been easy for them to go away and say ‘Hey we had a nice little tournament’, but we didn’t,” Smith said.
The Cougars never gave up this afternoon, fighting to make this game competitive after being down big early, but with the loss the question remains whether the team will receive a postseason invitation of any kind.
WSU Player of the game
In the second half, Bamba really took his game to the next level and led the Cougars' comeback charge.
Bamba shot 6 of 13 from the field and made 3 of 5 3-pointers, including a 3 that gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half.
What’s next for WSU?
That’s a good question. The Cougars can potentially be invited to the NIT Tournament, with a semi-strong resume albeit a rocky start, but with wins against Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon, USC and close battles with Baylor and UCLA.
Stats
Mouhamed Gueye: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Andrej Jakimovski: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
DJ Rodman: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks
TJ Bamba: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
Justin Powell: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist
Carlos Rosario: 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Adrame Diongue: 1 rebound
Dylan Darling: 1 assist
Jabe Mullins: 1 rebound
Jack Wilson: 1 personal foul