LAS VEGAS - The Washington State men’s basketball team experienced a lot of change in the past year. New conference, new coach and new players, including four who became starters.
The Cougars have transitioned nicely and showed more evidence of that Saturday night with an impressive 94-77 victory over LMU in a third-round game of the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship at Orleans Arena.
Sixth-seeded WSU (19-13), under first-year coach David Riley, made a comfortable debut in the West Coast Conference event after getting byes the first two rounds, scoring 90 points for the third straight game and the 11th time this season.
And they did it against an LMU squad that scored 100 points the night before in its first game against San Diego.
“Just an exciting for game us. The two things we’ve been preaching for the last few weeks is make sure we’re flying around and competing and playing together,” Riley said. “I thought that showed tonight. We had 26 assists, we beat ‘em on the glass — this is a really physical, veteran team.
“When we look like that, we’re pretty tough to beat.”
They return Sunday for a quarter-final round matchup against No. 3 San Francisco (23-8) in an 8 p.m. contest.
The Cougars, who joined the West Coast Conference as two-year affiliate members along with Oregon State after the splintering of the Pac-12, never trailed LMU and led by as many as 20 points, They got double-figure scoring from four players, including 22 points apiece from forward Ethan Price and point guard Nate Calmese, who also had seven assists.
There were a lot of unknowns after the Cougars won 25 games last season, earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2008 and watched coach Kyle Smith depart for an opportunity at Stanford, new to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Cougars hired Riley from nearly Eastern Washington, where he won 62 games in three seasons with two Big Sky regular-season titles. He brought four players with him from Eastern, including guard Cedric Coward, a preseason All-WCC honoree whose season ended with a shoulder injury after six games.
WSU has hardly skipped a beat and no one is less surprised than forward Price, one of the EWU transfers, who averaged 12.4 points and 5.1 rebounds this season.
“We set a good foundation with what we did at Eastern, and we kind of brought that over to Washington State,” he said. “Coach brings that hard work and he knows how to win games. I think for years to come there’s going to be a lot of winning at Washington State.
Calmese is thrilled to have made the transition from cross-state rival Washington, where he saw limited playing time after a successful freshman season at Lamar. He averaged 15.0 points and 4.1 assists this year and was voted All-WCC honorable mention.
“It’s been great. The main thing he said to me is he wants me to be his point guard and gave me a great opportunity when nobody really trusted me,” Calmese said.
Riley called this a hectic year, but likes how the Cougars have bounced back after losing eight of nine through late February. “Really just getting the spirit right at the end of the season is a great thing,” he said.
UP NEXT: With one win under their belts, the Cougars now prepare for a quarter-final matchup vs. USF, which received a bye through the first three rounds.
“San Francisco is going to be a heck of a matchup,” Price said. “They put a number on us at their place (in a 75-51 USF win). At our place we had a good game against them and won (91-82) early in the season. It’s going to be just a really high-level college basketball game.”
Calmese said the Cougars are ready for whoever is next. “I think we can beat anybody,” he said.
LIONS LOOKING AHEAD: LMU coach Stan Johnson, whose team shot a season-best 63 percent in its opener vs. San Diego, was concerned the Lions (17-15) might not be able to duplicate that a day later. They didn’t, shooting 41 percent, including 29 percent on 3-point tries.
“We were on our heels all night,” he said. “I thought their offense operated at very high level. We couldn't catch up.”
But Johnson likes the arc of his program, with a third winning season in five years after inheriting a team that was above .500 just one in eight seasons. The Lions expect returnees next season to include MJ Amey, Jevon Porter and Jan Vide, who combined to provide 39 points, 18 rebounds and five assists on Saturday.
Johnson said he’s the most impatient person he knows, but sees progress. “When I look at the big picture of this whole thing and what we're trying to get done, we're on track tonight,” he said. “Tonight sucks. But you got to go through these things when you're building this.”
Johnson said the LMU administration has led the way improving facilities and the talent level on the team has continually improved.
“I think we're at a place now where we have a respectable program,” he said. “The next level for us is to continue to add the talent needed to get to the top of the league and this is a big offseason for that.”