PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State men's basketball defeated San Diego, 93-86, Thursday for Senior Night in Beasley Coliseum.
Big Picture: Washington State improved to 17-13 and 7-10 in conference play, concluding the home schedule 10-4 and are guaranteed a winning record in Coach Riley's first season.
Senior Night Celebration: WSU honored seniors
Cedric Coward,
Dane Erikstrup, and
Ethan Price pre-game. All three are in their first year on the Palouse and followed Coach Riley from Eastern Washington.
Player Performances: Erikstrup scored a team-high 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from three.
Ethan Price added17 points with seven rebounds.
LeJuan Watts recorded his eighth double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Isaiah Watts added 11 points, with 10 in the first half.
Tale of Two Halves: Despite allowing a season-high 61 points in the second half, a dominant first half proved to be too much for the Toreros to overcome. Wazzu scored a season-high 53 first half points on 65% shooting from the field and 57% from beyond the arc. The Cougs also held San Diego to just 30% shooting from the field and 10% from three in the first half.
Coach's Comments: "I'm really excited to send these seniors off with a win. I thought they've done a lot for Washington State, I got to coach all of them for three and four years and it's just great to see them come out with the fire and edge that we needed," Head Coach
David Riley said postgame.
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WASHINGTON STATE POSTGAME NOTES
- With the result, the Cougars:
- Improve to 17-13 this season and finish 10-4 in home games
- Improve to 7-10 in WCC play and finish 5-4 in conference home games
- Improve to 5-1 all-time against San Diego and 3-0 against the Toreros in Pullman
- Improve to 12-4 when wearing white uniforms
- Improve to 14-4 when leading at halftime
- Improve to 12-1 when scoring 80+ points
- Improve to 5-8 when allowing their opponent to score 80+ points
- Improve to 12-4 when shooting over 50% from the floor
- WSU used the starting lineup for the eighth-straight game and 14th time this season
- WSU held its largest halftime lead this season, scoring a season-high 53 first-half points with a 28-point advantage
- The Cougs allowed a season-high 61 second-half points by their opponent
- For the fifteenth time this season at least four Cougs scored in double figures
- LeJuan Watts scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season
- Watts scored in double figures for the 23rd time this season and 37th of his career
- Dane Erikstrup scored 23 points for his 22nd double-digit performance this season and 44th of his D-I career
- Erikstrup scored 15 first-half points, his seventh first half with double-digit scoring
- Erikstrup scored a WCC-personal high 23 points, his first 20-point game of League action
- Ethan Price scored 17 points for his 20th double-digit game as a Coug and 78th in his career
- Isaiah Watts added 11 points for his 12th game with 10+ points (15th career) and sixth double-digit performance in a half
- Watts' eighth game with multiple steals
- ND Okafor matched a season high with six rebounds
- Rihards Vavers recorded his first steal as a Coug
- Parker Gerrits tallied two steals for the second time in his career
