Washington State Basketball: Kansas Jayhawks Shred Cougs 78-41

Nov 19, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Washington State Cougars forward Brock Motum (12) goes up for a shot as Kansas Jayhawks center Jeff Withey (5) defends during the first half of the game at the CBE Classic at the Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

It was your basic, prototypical butt-whoopin’ in Kansas City tonight, as the Kansas Jayhawks surgically took apart the Washington State Cougars to the tune of 78-41 in the opening round of two at the CBE Classic on Monday night. Sadly, the game wasn’t even that close. Washington State, down 50-21 at halftime, was decidedly undermanned against the 12th ranked team in the nation and had no answer for the KU size and athleticism that was on display.

This was a good measuring-stick game for WSU, but unfortunately they didn’t measure up very well. WSU Guard DaVonte Lacy, arguably the Cougars best and most explosive perimeter threat, went down with an undisclosed injury 5 minutes into the game and even with Brock Motum’s 14, from that point on it was over. KU Guard Travis Releford was white-hot, scoring 17 on 6 of 7 from the field and getting plenty of help from the talented group that flanks him.

The Cougars showed that their lack of a true point guard is really going to hurt when facing teams with superior size, as most of the Cougars’ in conference opponents will possess. Not many teams will shoot it as well as Kansas did though and it’s doubtful the Cougs go 29% from the floor too often. Point being it’s really early and it’s only game 4 with an incredibly young team, so there is room for growth and we should see a more competitive team as the year goes along. However all the other teams are growing as well, so WSU better grow up faster. Washington State will now prepare for a match up with Texas A&M, who took a similar dose of medicine from the St. Louis Bilikens, losing 70-49 just before the Cougars played.