MBK: Cougs survive Winthrop's 3-point barrage; Gueye honored by Pac-12
Michael Flowers and Noah Williams combined for 39 points and Washington State survived a second-half 3-point barrage from Winthrop’s Patrick Good to beat the Eagles 92-86 on Monday night.
Flowers scored 20, sinking 5 of 8 shots — with two 3-pointers — and 8 of 11 free throws for the Cougars (5-0). Williams netted 12 of his 19 points in the first half as WSU took a commanding 47-28 lead into the locker room.
The Cougars had no answer for Good after the break. The Winthrop senior came off the bench to sink two of his first four 3-pointers in the first half, then caught fire in the second half — hitting 9 of 15 from distance to finish with 33 points.
Good also hit 11 3-pointers when he scored his career high of 35 points.
Good sank a 3 to open the second half, but the Eagles (2-3) didn’t score again until Good buried a 3 that left them trailing 57-37 with 15:09 remaining. Good hit four 3s over the next 9 minutes as Winthrop pulled within 72-61.
Russell Jones Jr. hit from distance to pull the Eagles within 78-71 with 1:59 to play. Winthrop sent WSU to the foul line and kept answering with 3-pointers, getting as close as 91-86 on a 3 by Good with 12 seconds left.
Tyrell Roberts scored 13 for WSU.
Jones finished with 19 points for Winthrop, hitting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. D.J. Burns Jr. added 14 points, while Michael Anumba scored 11.
GUEYE NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: WSU freshman Mouhamed Gueye was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the week ending on Nov. 21, the conference office announced Monday.
Gueye is the first Coug to earn a weekly award in 2021-22 and the first WSU freshman to take the newcomer award since Efe Abogidi took top freshman honors Dec. 27, 2021. Gueye is the first Coug to take home a weekly award since Noah Williams was named Pac-12 Player of the Week Feb. 21, 2021.
The first year forward put together a solid week in the post for the Cougs helping lead the team to wins over UC Santa Barbara (73-65) to start the week and at Idaho (109-61) to end the week. Against the defending Big West champs, Gueye dominated the paint as the young 6-11 forward came up with eight points and a team-best nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
It was the first time Gueye had led the Cougs in rebounding as he went to work on the offensive glass grabbing six boards to give the Cougs a second chance to score.
Three days later, Gueye showed off his skills and athleticism against an overmatched Vandal interior as he scored a season-best 13 points on a nearly perfect 6-for-7 shooting to go along with a team-best six rebounds. Gueye did his work in just 13 minutes of action as the Cougs blew out their Palouse rivals by 48 points, the largest margin of victory in the 125-year old rivalry.
The double-digit scoring effort was the second of the year for the freshman and first on the road away from Beasley Coliseum.
