Washington State Hoping To "Figure This Thing Out" After Three Straight Losses

Joe Londergan | Jan 31, 2025

Jan 25, 2025; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach David Riley reacts after a play during a game against the St. Mary's Gaels in the second half at Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

The early part of the season for Washington State men's basketball was mostly quite successful, despite several injuries to key players. The start of conference play, however, has been a mixed bag yielding a 5-5 record against West Coast Conference opponents.

Over the last week, the Cougars have lost three straight contests, including their second one-possession loss to the Pacific Tigers on Thursday night. Head coach David Riley made it clear he was not happy with his team's performance in the loss.

"I think I got to figure out what buttons to push,"Riley said postgame. "We didn't come out with the fight we needed. This is the second time I feel like they just kind of out-physical us, outplayed us and and we got to come together and figure this stuff out."

Pacific also beat the Cougars in Pullman by one point back on January ninth. Those losses sting a little bit worse for the Cougars, considering they are Pacific's only conference wins almost two calendar years.

Riley also indicated his frustration with WSU's lack of physicality in the paint. Pacific had a scoring advantage of 32-24 in that area while also winning the rebounding battle 34-24.

"I think we did some good things. We had a couple guys make some smart decisions in the second half, but at the end of the day to lose by 10 on the glass to Pacific when we have a size advantage at damn near every position is just disappointing and I got to figure out what what to do."

RIley doesn't have much time to decipher what it is his team, who now have sharpshooter Rihards Vavers and veteran guard Isaiah Watts back healthy, needs to reestablish some traction with eight games remaining in the season. They will return to the court on Saturday evening at 7 PM PT for a rematch with 17-6 San Francisco, who are currently third in the WCC standings.

"We got a day to come together and figure this thing out. I mean, we got to be able to weather the storm of those circus shots. You don't give up 16 offensive rebounds, maybe those don't matter as much."

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