Pointing to the success of some of Washington State’s other athletic programs such as football, soccer, volleyball and rowing, Cougars men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent challenged his players to step up because the time had come for them to start doing their fair share.

Thursday night, they did.

In a genuine Desert Storm display, WSU rocked Arizona State, 91-70, in Tempe, Ariz. with arguably the Cougars’ best performance in recent memory, snapping a five-game losing streak and recording their first road win away from Pullman since Feb. 22, 2018 at California.

WSU dominated every phase, from shooting (91 points marked the most against a Pac-12 opponent in two years; 50 first half points most vs. Pac-12 foe this season; 27-33 FT) to rebounding (outrebounded top rebounding team in pac-12, 48-41) to playing solid defense (ASU shot 33.8 pct., 5-33 on 3-pointers) to distribution of the basketball (22 assists on 26 baskets).

For one night, everything came together for the Cougars and being a WSU hoops fans was actually enjoyable.

“Our players have an opportunity to believe in themselves, believe in us as a staff and represent Coug Nation the right way, but it has taken us time to get there,” said Kent, who employed unique motivational tactics such as throwing the players out of the locker room for untidiness and making the players practice in their own gear ‘because they weren’t playing like a team.’”

“I needed them to understand that for segments of every loss, we’ve been the most dominant team on the floor,” Kent continued. “They just had to buy in for 40 minutes. If they did that, they could be a very dominant team because they are starting to come together. We first had to get beat up and get criticized and hit rock bottom. But they stayed together and took their lumps. They are growing up. Our leadership has been spectacular, even through our struggles.”

Much of the credit for a stunning victory few analysts predicted - ASU was tied for second in the Pac-12 and had a 13-6 overall record, 10-2 at home - goes, of course, to senior Robert Franks, whose decision to return for his final college season rather than declare for the NBA Draft after the 2017-18 campaign looks better and better every day.

Franks poured home 34 points (23 in the first half, most in a first half in his career) and grabbed 13 rebounds, tying his career highs in both categories. He registered his first double-double of the season against Pac-12 competition, adding career highs in blocks and steals with four of each.

Without a doubt, NBA scouts were smiling.

“He played an amazing game,” Kent said. “We’ve talked with him and C.J. (Elleby) that when they play the game the right way we are a very good team offensively and they will get great numbers. Robert was perfect tonight in terms of what I needed him to do. He handled the ball like a point guard, he defended, he blocked shots, he rebounded, he shot well from the outside, we posted him up on the interior and he made his free throws. He was a tremendous leader tonight.”

While Thursday night’s victory sent shock waves throughout the Pac-12, The Cougars are still just 9-14 overall, 2-8 in the conference. They are in 11th place two games behind Colorado (4-6) in 10th and two games ahead of last place California (0-10). Nonetheless, if nothing else, the impressive win hints at optimism for the remaining eight games on the schedule, and the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas (March 13-16).

Following Saturday’s late afternoon tilt at Arizona (4:30 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network), the Cougars return home for three straight games against rival Washington, Colorado and Utah. Five of WSU’s final seven games are at Beasley Coliseum. Is the stage set for a fantastic finish by the Cougars? We’ll see.

“Considering where our team was and we were able to break our losing streak, this was very much needed, especially on the road,” Franks told the Cougars IMG Sports Network after Thursday’s game. “For the new guys to come into this environment and show up the way they did, hats off to my teammates. This was an overall team win.

“This season isn’t over. Now we’re going to try for a road sweep. This was a good start. We know now we can play like this for 40 minutes. We have the blueprint. We just have to do it over and over. We have eight games left and then Las Vegas (Pac-12 Tourney). Anything can happen. March is coming.”

A major key for WSU moving forward is sharing the basketball like they did Thursday night, Kent said.

“We’ve said all along that when we share the basketball and get more than 20 assists, we’re a very good team,” Kent said. “We’ve opened up the running game the past couple of days because we’re at our best when we share the basketball and believe in each other.”

What does Kent eye now? For the Cougs to rinse and repeat Saturday at Arizona. His message to his team today at practice will be clear and unmistakable: Do it again.

“We have to put together consecutive great games to say we have turned the corner in terms of our season,” Kent said.

NEXT FIVE GAMES:

Feb. 9 at Arizona, 4:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 16 WASHINGTON, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

Feb. 20 COLORADO, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 23 UTAH 5 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 28 at Stanford, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

PAC-12 RESULTS/SCHEDULE (Feb. 6-10)

Wed., Feb. 6

Colorado 84, UCLA 73

Oregon 73, California 62

Utah 77, USC 70

Thur., Feb. 7

Washington State 91, Arizona State 70

Stanford 83, Oregon State 60

Washington 67, Arizona 60

Sat., Feb. 9

Utah at UCLA, 2 p.m. (Fox)

California at Oregon State, 2:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Washington State at Arizona, 4:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Washington at Arizona State, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Colorado at USC, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)

Sun. Feb. 10

Stanford at Oregon, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

(All Times Pacific)