Portland St. @ Washington St. preview
Beasley Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Dec 6, 2015 ) Portland St. 67, Washington St. 91
Washington State coach Kyle Smith would probably like to have a less stressful win one of these days, but he's not about to throw back a 4-0 start, either.
The Cougars have won those games by a total of 14 points following their 61-58 decision over Idaho on Wednesday night.
They're aiming to make it five straight wins on Sunday when they host Portland State in Pullman, Wash.
Washington State has dug out of double-digit holes the last three games. It trailed Idaho by 11 points in the first half and by nine in the second before ripping off 19 consecutive points.
"They had everything to gain and we had everything to lose. We got off to a tough start," Smith said. "Luckily, we were able to pull ourselves together and have a nice little run. It got tightened up, but we were fortunate to pull out the victory."
Noah Williams led the Cougars with 19 points, upping his scoring average for the season to 12.5 points. He's second on the team in scoring behind Isaac Bonton (17.8), who had 17 points and eight rebounds against Idaho.
But Bonton could stand to be a bit more efficient. He's just 20 of 74 from the field in four games -- including 8 of 30 on 3-pointers -- and has even missed 10 of his 33 foul shots.
Washington State has played outstanding defense so far. Opponents are making only 36.0 percent from the floor and have attempted just 50 free throws, which means the Cougars are fouling sparingly.
Portland State (1-1) is looking to build on Tuesday's 88-48 rout of Northwest University, an NAIA school located in Kirkland, Wash. The Vikings received 11 points each from Charles Jones, Amari McCray and Paris Dawson.
Portland State benefited from balanced scoring and playing time. It used 14 players, with no one getting more than Jones' 23 minutes of action.
"I was really pleased with how the ball was moved and shared tonight," coach Barret Peery said. "I thought we were unselfish and guys played for each other. The guys did a good job on the glass and we got the pace going our way in the second half."
Washington State is 8-0 in the all-time series, including a 91-67 decision in the teams' last meeting five years ago in Pullman.
--Field Level Media