Cougs Earn Road Win Over Oregon State

Washington State (11-9, 2-5) was able maintain their resolve going down the stretch to win one at the end.

Leading by 3-points with less than 8 seconds to go, the Cougs didn’t allow a good look by Oregon State (11-9, 1-6) to seal the final score of 71-68 in Corvallis.

This was a sweet Pac-12 road victory for Coach Ken Bone and his crimson clad Cougars.

The Beavers led at halftime 33-29 largely due to converting more of their 3-point attempts, going 5-12 in the first 20-minutes. WSU was stone cold from behind the arc sinking just 1-9 from downtown.

Within a couple of minutes out of the locker room, Coach Bone’s squad took their first lead of the second half. The score went back and forth right up to the media timeout midway through the final 20-minutes when the scoreboard displayed a 51-51 tie. Coming out of the break in action, Brock Motum stepped back and knocked down a trey to give his team a lead they would maintain the rest of the way.

Mike Ladd went off for a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers in 33 minutes of play. He was a sizzling 10 of 11 from the field, scoring the first 11 points of the game for Washington State. Brock Motum had another tough first half when it came to scoring managing just one layup and a pair of free throws. Once again there was no denying the young man from Australia as Motum finished with 20 points. He added 10 boards for another double-double before fouling out with a minute left in the game.

Recently WSU has been terrible at the free throw line at the end. In a close game, making crucial chances from the charity stripe becomes critical with the game on the line. Royce Woolridge came through with a pair of free throws to put his team up by three with just a few ticks left on the clock. It was Oregon State who missed opportunities at end when attempting to make free throws.

Though Coach Bone limited the number of guys he sent out on the court, the rotation of players was effective and proved to be the difference. Where the Cougs have looked fatigued in the closing minutes in conference play, they looked fresh and confident Saturday afternoon.

This wasn’t a “break out” game for WSU, but it certainly is a step in the right direction for the Cougars.

Washington State returns home next week to host the Arizona schools in Pullman.

GO COUGS!!!