WSU collapses in final moments, leading to 85-80 road loss to San Francisco

PULLMAN – Normally, David Riley likes to let his guys play, and let his players attack a defense that hasn’t gotten a chance to get set.

In the final moments of Washington State’s road test against San Francisco on Sunday afternoon, the coach considered doing so.

“I just didn’t know about the spacing that we had,” Riley said in a postgame radio interview. “We had two guys on the wrong side, and figured we might get a better shot out of a timeout.”

Right before freshman guard Ace Glass pulled up from deep, sinking a 3-pointer that would have tied the game at 83-all with 14 seconds to go, Riley called timeout.

No basket.

After the timeout, the Cougars produced only a turnover from guard Jerone Morton, who had to bail from a contested shot from beyond the arc, letting the Dons race the other way and dooming WSU to an 85-80 loss.

It concluded a complete collapse by WSU, which took an 80-76 lead with about 2½ minutes left when Morton connected on a wide-open triple from the right side. The Cougars didn’t score again, letting the Dons close the game on a 9-0 run.

It’s the third straight loss for Washington State (8-12, 3-4 WCC), which got 20 points from Glass and a career-high 21 from forward Eemeli Yalaho, who also pulled down five rebounds. Fellow forward ND Okafor paired 14 points with five rebounds, and Morton chipped in 11 points on a perfect 3-for-3 showing from beyond the arc, continuing what has been a productive stretch for the Morehead State transfer.

The Cougs shot 58% from the floor, including 10-for-21 on 3-pointers. They took their largest lead at 67-59 on a triple from forward Simon Hildbebrandt, who has now hit 6 of his last 9 tries from distance, a compelling stretch that even included a midrange jumper from guard Adria Rodriguez, who doesn’t normally look to score.

For the Cougars, who return to action on Wednesday at San Diego, there wasn’t much to write home about in the final moments. After Morton splashed his late trey, USF followed with a triple from Guillermo Diaz Graham, pulling the Dons within one. After Glass lost a turnover on the other end, USF bolted the other way for a basket from David Fuchs, who tipped back his own miss, handing his team an 81-80 lead.

On the Cougs’ ensuing possession, Glass couldn’t get the roll on a layup that was closer to a contested hook shot, leading to a loose ball foul. When the Dons inbounded, they tossed it the length of the floor. In the shuffle, the Cougs lost track of USF freshman Legend Smiley, who found himself all alone for an easy dunk. That put the hosts up 83-80. They were never in much trouble the rest of the way.

This leaves the Cougars looking for a few answers. Why take the ball out of the hands of your best player, Glass, and call a timeout? How did the team lose Smiley on an inbounds play? And even after all that, WSU had a chance to tie the game, down three with 14 seconds left. Why did the Cougs only get a contested shot from Morton, who wound up turning it over on his way back down?

All told, it was a confounding end to the game for Washington State, which could have used a win on Sunday. The Cougars were coming off two losses, a road setback to Saint Mary’s and a home defeat to No. 9 Gonzaga, the conference’s top two teams. The Dons remain a strong contender, but this profiled as a winnable game for the Cougars, even without two injured starters in Tomas Thrastarson and Ri Vavers.

Early on, it sure looked that way. After heading into halftime down four, WSU opened the second half with six straight points, taking a 50-48 lead. Later, Hildebrandt connected on a triple. Moments after that, he hit another, good for an eight-point lead.

Even with seven minutes left, Washington State was in good shape. When Glass snuck inside for a layup, his team seized a 75-68 lead, putting USF in a bind. Could the Dons slow Glass?

Turns out, they didn’t need to.

San Francisco shot 54% from the field, including 12-for-22 from 3-point land. In the end, the Cougs couldn’t generate enough stops on defense. Combine that with a few late-game blunders and you get a result like Sunday’s.

“We gotta do a better job defensively,” said Riley, whose team was beaten 30-23 in rebounds, including 10-6 in offensive rebounding, which USF turned into 14 second-chance points. “The rebounding is something that’s been a strength of ours this year, and that first half in particular is another stretch that I think really hurt us. You go put 80 up on the road, you gotta be able to win those games, and we gotta buckle down to get stops. Down the stretch, there were some things that we gotta fix.”