IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
PULLMAN, Wash. –
Robert Franks put up 32 points and grabbed 10 boards as Washington State men's basketball overcame a 13-point first-half deficit, to defeat Saint Martin's, 85-74, Sunday, in exhibition action at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars' 13-point deficit came with 3:30 to go in the first, which they were able to cut to 3, 44-41, at halftime. WSU took its first lead at the 16:42 mark, and later used a 13-0 run, to take a 63-50 lead with 9:25 to go in the game. Franks had a balanced game, scoring 15 in the first half, 17 in the second half. Redshirt freshman
Milan Acquaah, making his first appearance in a Cougar uniform, added 21 points and 5 assists off the bench for Washington State. He was 11-for-16 from the free throw line, while adding a game-high 4 steals. Sophomore
Jeff Pollard led the team in rebounding with 11 boards, chipping in 6 points, an assist and a steal as a starter. Fellow starters
Malachi Flynn,
Viont'e Daniels and
Kwinton Hinson, added 11, 6 and 5 points, respectively. Flynn dished out 4 assists and recorded a block and a steal. Redshirt junior
KJ Langston was perfect from the field at 2-for-2 with 4 points in 12 minutes.
COACH KENT'S QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Defensively I felt like we stepped up in the second half. I feel like this game is going to be a microcosm of our season. They started off jittery and nervous and didn't shoot the ball very well. And as the game went on they kind of grew up during the course of the game to play this team. And they're going to have to do that same thing over the course of this year with the competition that is starting to come in here in a week. It's nice to get this one out of the way and play in front of a crowd, but we also have a long way to go."
PLAYER QUOTE OF THE GAME
"That's the type of mentality we're trying to build this year. Nobody's taking losing for an answer and we're going to do whatever it takes to win. I feel like if we keep working, the sky's the limit for us."
Milan Acquaah, Redshirt Freshman Guard
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Ten Cougs played, with seven of them scoring and three of those scoring in double figures.
- Milan Acquaah, Arinze Chidom, Kwinton Hinson and Carter Skaggs all made their first appearances in a Cougar uniform during the exhibition action.
- Hinson was the only newcomer to start the game.
- The six returnees (Robert Franks, Jeff Pollard, Viont'e Daniels, Malachi Flynn, KJ Langston and Steven Shpreyregin) accounted for 59 of the 85 points.
- WSU forced 15 turnovers and had 12.
- The Cougars shot .481 (26-for-54) from the field…after shooting .267 from 3-point range in the first half, WSU shot .444 (4-for-9) in the second half.
- WSU opens the regular season, Sunday, Nov. 12 hosting Texas Southern at 1 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
