Despite shooting 33% from the field and 24% from 3-point range Saturday, Washington State still found a way to survive against Cal with a 63-57 win on the road to complete a sweep of the Bay Area schools.
The Cougars, who locked up just their third conference road win in the victory, could not find the basket at all and struggled to shoot consistently throughout the first half. WSU held just a 29-26 lead and shot less than 29% from three and from the field through the first 20 minutes.
Despite all that, the Cougars (15-15, 10-9 Pac-12) closed it out in the second half with a better shooting performance (40%) to pick up their fifth win in a row.
The Golden Bears (3-26, 2-16) struggled to take advantage of the rough first-half shooting performance by the Cougars, only making two of their eight shots from 3-point range during that stretch.
Mouhamed Gueye collected his third straight double-double performance in a row, dropping 20 points and snagging 10 rebounds in Haas Pavilion on the day. This puts him in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 for most double-doubles on the season with 14.
Saturday’s win marks the first time with back-to-back sweeps in the Bay Area since 1983.
WSU head coach Kyle Smith was pleased with his team’s ability to battle through the early struggles and come out on top.
“We just prevailed, we’re just gritty enough to get that thing done and keeping them off the offensive boards,” Smith said.
The Cougars, who are averaging over 12 giveaways, only turned the ball over a season-low six times on the afternoon.
WSU's leading scorer TJ Bamba continued to shine on the offensive end of the floor in the win over the Bears. He finished the day with 19 points to go with a pair of rebounds and a block. Bamba has now scored at least 19 points in four of the last six games for the Cougars.
“He’s our captain, he’s been a workhorse, a good competitor,” Smith said. “It feels good when you have someone who you can go to late in the game.”
Washington State is hitting its stride at the right time with just one week left to play in the regular season before heading to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament.
“This team has had some down moments, but they have never frayed,” Smith said. “I’ve always felt like this group is close, they work and they care for each other.”
Cougars player(s) of the game
The duo of Gueye and Bamba proved to be the difference for the Cougars down the stretch with Bamba scoring 14 of his 19 points in the second half of the game, and Gueye collecting seven rebounds in the second half.
Even though Bamba came out in the first half a little flat, the second half for him was a completely different story.
Gueye has been red-hot in his last three games, collecting three straight double-doubles and playing some of his best basketball heading into the conference tournament. He has taken his game to a whole new level as of late helping him become one of the most dominant forwards in the Pac-12.
Next up for WSU
The Cougars are now tied with Utah for sixth place in the Pac-12, and have only one more regular season game next Thursday against in-state rival Washington in Seattle where they will try to sweep the Boeing Apple Cup Series for the first time in a very long time.
With the way the Cougars have been playing recently, along with having a top-50 KenPom ranking, WSU could be invited to a post-season tournament if they keep this winning streak and momentum alive.
WSU stats
Mouhamed Gueye: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
TJ Bamba: 19 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Justin Powell: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
Jabe Mullins: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
DJ Rodman: 3 points, 10 rebounds
Kymany Houinsou: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Andrej Jakimovski: 3 rebounds, 1 block
Jack Wilson: 2 points, 1 assist
Dylan Darling: 1 rebound
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