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February 06, 2022
Wazzu News and Notes - February 6, 2022
- Echoing the performance of the Cougar gals on Friday, Wazzu men's hoops (14-7,7-3 Pac-12) extended their conference winning streak to five games by defeating the Cal Bears (9-15,2-11 Pac-12) on their home court in Berkley by a final score of 68-64. Any road wins should be savored and this one is no exception for Cougar Nation.
Both teams were playing without one of their big men up front. Center Dishon Jackson is still sidelined with an eye injury but did make the trip. That might indicate Jackson is close to returning to the Wazzu lineup.
Though Cal is struggling to discover how to finish a game for victory, they are not a cupcake team by any stretch of the imagination. The Bears resemble the Cougs of a month ago. Cal has the talent to win in the Pac-12, they just haven't come together as a team to make that happen.
WSU started the second half, on the heels of a 33-31 lead at intermission, playing their usual brand of smothering defense. The game-winning D disappeared with about ten minutes left in regulation allowing Cal to work their way back into the contest. Still, the Bears fell into a 12-point hole with 7:24 to go.
“We were looking at the scoreboard too much probably,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said of his team’s tentative play down the stretch. “Let’s go back to when we were losing those games to Eastern Washington and New Mexico State," Smith reminded folks. In both cases, those were games the Cougs should have won but didn't execute their offense in crunch time. Smith went on to say, “We’ve grown up a lot since then. … On the road, to be able to do that (sweeping Stanford and Cal), there’s a grittiness and toughness.”
Pure shooter Jalen Celestine's 3-pointer brought Cal within 66-64 with 35 seconds to go after Michael Flowers made a pair of foul shots with 31 seconds remaining. Noah Williams missed the front end of a one-and-one and Cal secured the board. But the Bears' Joel Brown missed a wide-open shot attempt from behind the arc with six seconds left. After getting fouled, Flowers sank a pair from the charity stripe to seal it.
WSU has piled up a heap of nuggets to consider, including a road sweep of the Bay Area schools for the first time since 1993. The impressive stats are embedded in the notes below:
POSTGAME NOTES
• With the win, the Cougars:
o Improved to 14-7 on the year and 7-3 in Pac-12 contests
o Ties the best 10 game stretch to start Pac play since the 2006-07 season
o First five-game winning streak in Pac play since 2006-07
o First sweep on the road at Stanford and Cal since the 1993 season
o First back-to-back wins in Berkeley since 1992 & 1993
o First four-game win streak against Cal since 1991-1993
• WSU led at halftime for the 19th time on the year
• 4-point victory marked the smallest margin of victory on the year for the Cougs
• The Cougs had 11 of 13 active players available for the contest
o Cougs were without Dishon Jackson for the sixth-straight game due to injury as well as Jefferson Koulibaly being an injury scratch for the second-straight game
• Michael Flowers led the team in scoring for the 7th time with 21 points
o Back-to-back 20+ point games for the first time on the year – 5th 20+ point game of the year
o 15th double-digit scoring game of the season – 100th of his career
o Scored double-digits in both the second half (12), ties for team-best 10th double-digit scoring
halves of the year
o Tied a Pac-12 best 4 three-pointers for the third straight game
o 27-straight games with a three-pointer
• Tyrell Roberts scored 12 points for the second-straight game
o 13th double-digit scoring game
o Tied a career-high with 2 steals
• Efe Abogidi finished the game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 steals
o 2nd Double-double in Pac-12 play
o Highest point total in a Pac-12 game
o Tied season-high with 11 rebounds
o Career-high 4 steals
o Season-best 7-for-8 from the free throw line
• Mouhamed Gueye finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks
o 6th game in double-figures
o Tied career-high in blocks
• Double-digit three-pointers (10) for the 10th time
• Second-straight win when being outrebounded improving to 2-4 in such games
• Improved to 3-7 on the year when being outshot from the floor
https://wsucougars.com/news/2022/2/5/mens-basketball-streaking-washington-st-beats-cal-1st-bay-sweep-since-93.aspx
Go Cougs!!!
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