• WSU men's hoops (15-12,8-8 Pac-12) stepped out of their comfort zone last night and in so doing, handed a conference loss to cross-state rival Washington (13-13,8-8 Pac-12) by a final score of 78-70 on their home floor, Friel Court. The Cougs' offensive personality this season has been to move the ball around the floor to get an open shot from behind the 3-point arc and cast off. If you have a doubt about the simplicity of this characterization, simply check the facts. Wazzu is the top 3-point shooting team in the Pac-12. Take away or limit the Cougar's chances for open shots from downtown and your team has a very good chance of winning a contest. Clearly, that was the strategy of the Huskies last night. And it worked. Until it didn't.
  For the first time in weeks, Coach Kyle Smith had his three big men, Dishon Jackson, Efe Abogidi, and Muhamed Gueye healthy enough to play. And play they did. Gueye was nearly unstoppable inside, especially with the Dawgs defense focused on taking away open shots from behind the arc. By the time this game was in the books, Gueye had a career night scoring a game-high 25-points. But wait, there's more. Abogidi was a monster on the boards putting back offensive rebounds as though there weren't any UW players in the paint. Actually there was little UW defense inside as they were intent on stopping the Cougar offense shooting from long range. All Abogidi produced on the offensive end of the floor was a career-high 21- points.
  The announcing team for ESPNU waxed on eloquently about how the Husky ball club had turned a corner and was a force to be reckoned with in the Pac-12. While the team in purple was taking in praise by the boatload, WSU was taking control of business. The business was simply to win another conference game. The guys from the big city of Seattle were outplayed by the guys from the Palouse.
  Here's how the game played out. The teams played to a 33-33 tie after a half, but the Cougars opened the second half with 13-1 run and did not trail the rest of the way. Washington clawed back within one after Nate Roberts' layup with 8:50 left and PJ Fuller's layup with 2:31 left made it 71-70. On the next Wazzu possession, Michael Flowers drove to the basket for an off-balance shot and Abogidi grabbed the offensive rebound and slammed it home to make it 73-70. Washington did not score another point the rest of the way.
  POSTGAME NOTES:
  • With the win, the Cougars:
  o Improved to 15-12 on the year and 8-8 in Pac-12 contests
   Most wins in conference play since 2010-11
  o Won their fourth of five against UW in the Kyle Smith era and the first coach since Tony Bennett to win four of the first five (Bennett won his first five)
  o Snapped a five-game losing streak
  • For the first time on the year the Cougs found themselves even with their opponent at the half
  • The Cougs had 11 of 12 active players available for the contest
  o Cougs were without TJ Bamba for the third straight game
  • Mouhamed Gueye (25) and Efe Abogidi (21) were the first Coug teammates to score 20+ points in a game since Isaac Bonton (25) and Noah Williams (21) scored 20+ together at UW 1/31/21
  • Gueye scored a career-high 25 points
  o 25 points is the most for a true freshman in a conference game for the Cougs since CJ Elleby scored 26 against UW in the 2018-19 season.
  o Tied for a team season-high in points – 2nd time leading the team in scoring
  o Went 11-for-23 from the field – most field goals attempted on the year and most since Noah Williams took went 12-for-35 vs Stanford 2/20/21
  o Career-high 3 assists
  o 3rd and 4th double-digit scoring halves (13 in the first, 12 in the second)
  o 8th double-digit scoring game
  • Abogidi scored a career-high 21 points while grabbing 14 rebounds
  o Career-high 7 field goals made– tied season-high 9 field goals attempted
  o Third double-double of the season and 8th of his career
  o Third double-digit scoring half (13 in the second)
  o Seventh double-digit scoring game
  o 14 rebounds a season-high and most in a Pac-12 game for the sophomore
  o 10 offensive rebounds – most for a Coug since 1996-97
  • Michael Flowers finished with 12 points and 7 assists
  o Tied a career high 7 assists (sixth time in his career, first time at WSU)
  o 32nd straight game with at least one three-pointer
  o 19th double-digit scoring game – 104th of his career
  • 19 assists tied for a season-high - most in a Pac-12 game since posting 22 vs Cal in 2021
  • Noah Williams held the Pac-12’s top scorer, Terrell Brown Jr., to a season-low 11 points
  • WSU won for just the fourth time when being outshot (4-12) after UW shot 46.3% to the Cougs 44.2%
  • Four made three-pointers were the second-lowest total for the Cougs and the lowest in a Pac-12 game this season
  Washington State will travel to Seattle next for a second Apple Cup game this coming Saturday at 3pm. The game will be telecast on PAC-12 Network.
  https://www.king5.com/article/sports/ncaa/ncaaf/cougars/gueye-abogidi-lead-washington-st-past-washington-78-70/281-73bec130-5eca-4e05-ba19-32770c4f7619

Go Cougs!!!