Washington @ Washington St. preview
Beasley Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Jan 31, 2021 ) Washington St. 77, Washington 62
As No. 20 Southern California dribbled out the final seconds of its 76-65 victory at Washington State on Saturday night, Cougars point guard Isaac Bonton was bent over at center court, grabbing both of his ankles.
Bonton, who scored 17 points and had five assists and four steals, had to be assisted off the floor by coach Kyle Smith and one of the school's athletic trainers.
The senior won't have much time to recover, as the Cougars will host rival Washington on Monday night in Pac-12 Conference action in Pullman, Wash.
"He's tough, I think he'll be back Monday," Smith said of Bonton. "He's a little shook up, but he wants to play in that game Monday. Hopefully, he can."
Washington State (12-9, 5-9 Pac-12) will certainly need Bonton -- one of only two seniors on its roster -- against the Huskies. Bonton, who is third in the league with 18.5 points per game, scored a game-high 26 points Thursday in the Cougars' 81-73 upset against UCLA.
Dishon Jackson led Washington State with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting against the Trojans while battling fellow freshman Evan Mobley, a potential No. 1 overall pick in the next NBA draft.
But the Cougars were undone from outside, making just 3 of 25 attempts from 3-point range after sinking 13 of 22 against UCLA.
"I thought we took pretty good (3-pointers) for the most part and SC's going to play inside-out and they're going to give you a few," Smith said. "You try to make them over their length and we just didn't execute well."
The Huskies (3-16, 2-12) are coming off a 64-61 loss Saturday to UCLA. Although Washington never led, it rallied from an early double-digit deficit and tied the game at 57 apiece.
Marcus Tsohonis led the Huskies with 22 points off the bench, all in the second half, but UW suffered its fifth straight defeat. Teammate Quade Green added 14 points but missed a desperation heave at the final buzzer.
"I felt like in that second half we all together played extra hard," said Tsohonis, who made a career-high six 3-pointers. "It was kind of rough in the beginning because we put ourselves in a hole again, but we were getting stops. It's just about keep getting better and keep playing hard because even though we lost (Saturday) it showed we can play with anybody."
The Cougars won this season's first matchup against the Huskies, 77-62 on Jan. 31, as Bonton scored 25 points and Noah Williams, playing in his hometown of Seattle, added 21.
--Field Level Media