Washington State Basketball: Cougars Beat Fresno State 59-50 Behind Motum, Ladd

Dec. 9, 2012; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars forward Brock Motum (12) makes a basket against Fresno State Bulldogs center Robert Upshaw (30) during the second half at the Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The Cougars would go onto beat the Bulldogs by a final score of 59-50. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Brock Motum was his usual, steady self, scoring 23 in all sorts of ways against the less athletic and younger front court of Fresno State. Still, the Bulldogs kept the game close and had a three point lead midway through the second half, before Motum’s help arrived in the form of Mike Ladd. After a wild 3 and 1/2 minute stretch saw the teams exchange turnovers and a lot of missed, easy shots, Ladd hit jumper to tie the game and then a 3 to give Washington State a lead 48-45 with just under 5 minutes to go.

From there it was a gritty defensive effort and free throws that gave WSU their 6th win of the season. The Cougs also picked up 11 from their point guard, Royce Woolridge, who hit 7 of 8 free throws, several down the stretch to help seal it. DaVonte Lacy, coming off of a career high 22 points against Gonzaga, only scored 4 on the day.

Fresno State started out with 8 of the first 14 points being scored by their 7 foot freshman center, Robert Upshaw. However from there on out he could only score 2 more. Leading scorer Allen Huddleston was held to only 10 points and even though Jerry Brown added 12, it wasn’t enough for the Bulldogs, who fell to 5-4 on the season.