WSU 94, Loyola Marymount 77

In A Minute

• Cougfan.com recap from Friend of the Pod Jamey Vinnick.

• Stats

• Line o’ the night: Nate Calmese with 22 points (6-of-9 on 2s, 3-of-8 on 3s), 7 assists, 2 steals … and 1(!!!) turnover(!!!).

• One stat to tell the tale: WSU rebounded 78% of LMU’s misses, the team’s highest defensive rebounding rate in a month.

WCC tournament bracket

Highlights

Three Thoughts

1. We are SO back!!

When the team was cratering, I made the case that it was extremely concerning that coach David Riley had been unable to do anything to pull the team out of its tailspin. Now on a three-game win streak — against progressively more challenging opponents, in a variety of venues — I think it’s safe to say that we are, in fact, out of the tailspin. The game scores in the last three are all 73 or higher; the last time we had that was in the four games from December 21 to January 4:

These last three games¹ have been a great example of what we thought we were getting with these Cougs from the outset: Really good offense and fine enough defense to be a pretty good — and entertaining! — team.

These games also illustrate what happened during the tailspin, and how they’ve been able to pull out of that no good, very horrible stretch.

Just looking at conference play in the chart below, you can see that the offense got worse (fueled by massive turnovers) and the defense cratered (fueled by horrible 2-point defense and defensive rebounding issues). They actually started to pull the defense together against Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga before that insane (unlucky?) clown show against Santa Clara, which is now looking more like an outlier. Meanwhile, the offense has definitely come back around:

If you’re wondering how, it’s pretty simple: The offense has had back-to-back games of under 15% turnovers, and the defense has gotten 2-point defense and defensive rebounding back under control. Sometimes, it’s really not that complicated!

2. X-factor

Huge, massive shoutout to our Latvian sharpshooter, Rihards Vavers, who was forced into more action that normal thanks to Dane Erikstrup fouling out in a mere 19 minutes. In his own 18 minutes, Vavers did his best Erikstrup impression by scoring 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3 and 4-of-4 from the free throw line while adding five rebounds (three offensive) and one assist.

In the flow of the game, it felt like every one of those 3s game at a big moment when LMU was just on the cusp of making some kind of inroads. Obviously expecting 80% shooting from 3 is faulty, but this game really was what we were hoping we would get from Vavers: A deadly floor spacer who makes teams pay for packing in the paint. We missed that for a large portion of the season thanks to some freak injuries. And in this one, it was his shooting that really made the difference for the offense.

3. Get over yourself, ESPN

With about a minute and a half to go, WSU center ND Okafor was ejected for “head butting” an opponent. If you saw the replay, you know that “head pushing” was probably a much more accurate descriptor of what happened, but if you move your head forward and make contact with another player’s head, you’re going to get tossed. It was the classic “punish the the retaliator rather than the instigator” situation, which seemed to incense Riley. I can’t exactly describe Riley’s bench behavior after it — truly, I lack the words — but if you weren’t watching the game, he looked like he was having a little bit of a meltdown, directing his competitive juices toward his players rather than the officials so he wouldn’t get tossed.

After an opposing player shot an failed to hit the rim on a 3-point attempt on the ensuing possession, the broadcast crew of Dave Fleming and Dan Dickau reported hearing Riley shout AIR BALL at the player when he came back down to WSU’s end of the floor. At this point, Fleming and Dickau began clutching their pearls so hard I thought they might actually pass out from concern over Riley’s behavior. Riley was probably wrong. And also, for heaven’s sake: the last thing anyone needs is for a Stanford grad and Gonzaga grad — with all the smugness they can muster — to prattle on and on about it.

Get a grip fellas. Nobody died here. My eyes truly could not have rolled any further into the back of my head.

Up Next: No. 3 seed San Francisco

The question, of course, is just what this three-game turnaround is worth when the next game is against a really tough opponent who could end your season.² WSU won the first matchup (in Pullman), which was the high point of the season before the epic slide; San Francisco absolutely eviscerated the Cougs on the return trip to the Bay Area.

WSU has a few things going for it this time around. The biggest, of course, is that they are just playing better right now than they were. But there are a couple of other important things to note.

First, USF will not be playing in its home gym, which was basically a fortress this season — they went 15-1 there while handing Saint Mary’s its lone WCC loss. Away from home, though, the Dons are just 7-7, which includes getting stomped by Gonzaga in the Chase Center (technically a home game, but … you know).

Second, USF will be without Marcus Williams, who has been suspended for a potential NCAA rules violation.³ He’s a first team all-WCC selection as Dons’ second-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter; to say he’s an incredibly valuable piece for them is an understatement.

In fact, it was his extreme foul trouble that played a major role in WSU pulling away from USF in the second half in Pullman. Additionally, he led the Dons with 17 points in the smackdown in San Francisco.

Both kenpom and barttorvik put WSU’s chances of winning this game at about 30ish%, but I’ve got to think the Cougars’ current form and Williams’ absence gives them a lot better chance than that.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. PT on ESPN2. I would assume Fleming and Dickau are back on the call, unfortunately.

1  Well, except for the second half against San Diego, but whatever. I’m still trying to pretend those 20 minutes didn’t happen.

2  I do think it’s possible they could get invited to a postseason tournament, though. Stay tuned.

3  I do not know what the violation is. I do know that the NCAA doesn’t suspend anyone for much of anything anymore … except for PEDs and gambling. Given that the USF statement indicates they are investigating … I think you can make a reasonable inference as to what this probably is related to.