Saint Joseph's @ Washington St. preview
Titan Gym
Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2013 ) Washington St. 67, St. Joseph's 72
Washington State is off to a 3-0 start but hasn’t exactly faced a daunting itinerary so far. That will change on Thanksgiving Day when the Cougars clash with St. Joseph’s in the first round of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton, Calif.
The Cougars opened with home wins against Texas Southern (86-84), Seattle (75-59) and Idaho State (83-62) but have needed two second-half comebacks and one overtime period to do so. All in all, it’s been an accomplishment for a young team replacing four starters and returning only three players who averaged more than nine minutes per game a season ago, but the opposition is about to get tougher, starting with the eight-team Wooden field, which also includes No. 21 Saint Mary’s, Ivy League preseason-favorite Harvard, Georgia and perennial Mountain West Conference power San Diego State. The winner of the Washington State-St. Joseph’s game will face the Saint Mary’s-Harvard victor in Friday’s semifinals while the two losers will square off in the consolation bracket. After an off day Saturday, the tourney wraps up Sunday with the three place games and the championship.
TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (3-0): Robert Franks, a 6-foot-7 forward, has made quite the leap so far this season. A season ago, Franks averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing but is pacing the Cougars so far with 18.3 and 8.7 averages, respectively, while shooting 6-of-11 from 3-point range and making all 10 of his free throw attempts. Guards Malachi Flynn (15.7 points) and Carter Skaggs (13.7) also own double-digit scoring averages with the former leading the team with 5.3 assists and the latter shooting a scorching 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from 3-point range.
ABOUT ST. JOSEPH’S (2-1): Coach Phil Martelli’s 24th season with the program opened with a 98-87 loss at Toledo, but the Hawks have since bounced back with wins over UIC (86-82) and Princeton (71-58). Freshman forward Taylor Funk, the current Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, is averaging a team-best 20.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 61.1 percent from the field, including 13-of-22 from 3-point range. Forward James Demery (18.0 points) and guards Shavar Newkirk (16.0) and Lamarr Kimble (10.0) also are averaging double figures for the Hawks who, like the Cougars, are scoring 81.3 points per game.
TIP-INS
1. This will be the third meeting between the programs, and both of the previous games were in-season tournament matchups won by St. Joseph’s. The most recent was a 72-67 Hawks win in the Old Spice Classic in Florida on Dec. 1, 2013.
2. Since winning the Great Alaska Shootout with a 3-0 run in 2009, Washington State has gone 8-13 in its last seven in-season tournaments.
3. Skaggs enters the tournament having made nine consecutive 3-pointers for the Cougars, who are averaging 35 3-point attempts per game.
PREDICTION: St. Joseph’s 73, Washington State 68