PULLMAN, Wash. (Hayden Wysup) – The Washington State men's basketball defeated Portland 92-70 Saturday afternoon in Beasley Coliseum.
Big Picture Washington State improved to 15-5 and 5-2 in WCC to play.
Inside the Stat Sheet: The Cougars controlled the paint throughout, outscoring Portland 48-18 in the key. Wazzu also found an advantage off turnovers, converting 17 Portland turnovers into 25 points.
Player Performances: Nate Calmese led the game in scoring with 23 points, career-high eight assists, and four rebounds. The junior is the first Coug to have three straight 20-point games since CJ Elleby in December of the 2019-20 season.
Dane Erikstrup added 17 points with four triples.
LeJuan Watts had 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
ND Okafor matched his WSU career-high with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
Turning Point: With the two teams exchanging blows in the early going, Wazzu took control with a 15-6 run to close out the half and commanded the lead for the rest of the game.
Up Next: The Cougars will take on Santa Clara, Thursday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. in the Leavey Center at Santa Clara.
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WASHINGTON STATE POSTGAME NOTES
- With the result, the Cougars:
- Improve to 15-5 this season and 8-1 in home games
- Improve to 5-2 in WCC play and 3-1 in WCC home games
- Improve to 10-2 when wearing white uniforms
- Improve to 14-2 all-time against Portland, 9-0 against the Pilots at home, and 2-0 this season
- Improve to 13-2 when leading at halftime
- Improve to 13-2 when tallying 15+ assists
- Improve to 10-1 when scoring 80+ points
- Improve to 12-3 when holding their opponent under 80 points
- Improve to 10-1 when shooting over 50% from the floor
- Improve to 10-3 when outrebounding its opponent
- WSU made a season-high 35 field goals and matched the season-high with 66 attempts
- Portland made the most freethrows by a WSU opponent this season (19)
- WSU held Portland to a Cougar-opponent season-low 21 field goals on a season-low 54 attempts
- At least four Cougars scored in double figures for the 12th time this season
- Nate Calmese finished with 23 points, his 10th-straight game in double figures, and seventh 20-point performance
- Calmese has scored 20+ points in three-consecutive games, becoming the first Coug to do so since C.J. Elleby had 3-consecutive 20-pieces, Dec. 7-19, 2019
- Calmese matched his career-high with eight assists for the second time this season and 12th game with 5+ assists
- Calmese scored 10+ points in the first half for the seventh time
- Dane Erikstrup scored 17 points, his 16th game in double figures and including 12 first-half points
- Erikstrup has made at least three 3-pointers nine times
- LeJuan scored 15 points for his 17th double-digit game as a Coug and led the Cougars in rebounding for the 14 time
- Ethan Price scored in double figures with 13 points for the 12th time this season
- Tomas Thrastarson recorded two rejections, his sixth game with multiple blocked shots
- ND Okafor scored 12 points and had six rebounds, matching his WSU career-highs
- Okafor delivered his third double-digit game and a career-high five offensive rebounds
- Kase Wynott matched a career-high with four rebounds
- Tayon Sessoms made his WSU career debut, entering the game with 92 seconds left
