After a disappointing 82-84 overtime loss against the Huskies last night that saw the Sun Devils fall to 13-14 (7-9 Pac-12), the focus shifts toward Washington State (21-6, 12-4). Unless the two teams meet in the Pac-12 Tounamnet, Saturday night’s matchup will mark the last ever conference matchup between the two schools. And this contest finds the Cougars as a force to be reckoned with, sweeping their season series with Arizona in a 77-74 road win last night, capturing the top spot in the league’s standings.
Fifth-year head coach Kyle Smith is on pace to have his best year at Washington State, polished to eclipse his previous high of 22 wins 22 in 2021-2022.
Washington State is well positioned to earn an at-large bid at the NCAA Tournament, which would also mark a first for the Cougars under Smith. 2008 was the last time WSU heard their name called on Selection Sunday, and Smith would mark only the fourth head coach in Pullman to have his team be part of March Madness.
From a statistical standpoint, Washington State is a true all-around team. According to Torvik Basketball Statistics, WSU scores 114.6 in overall adjusted efficiency, which ranks 52nd overall in the nation. On the other end of the floor, the Cougars score a 97.6 in overall adjusted defense which ranks 26th in the nation.
Much like the three-headed monster ASU faced last week against Arizona, WSU features three talented premier guys in their starting five, led by point guard Myles Rice. The 6’ 3” freshman from Columbia, South Carolina, has returned to the court this season after beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year and has been a menace to every opposing defense, averaging 15.5 points and shooting 44.6% from the field.
Rice is the main backcourt distributor who averages 3.7 assists and is a deft floor general. However, Rice is far from being a capable three-point threat, shooting 31.8% from beyond the arc. The guard was kept in relative check last night against Arizona, scoring only five in 29 minutes, but that’s not to count out his potential with the ball in his hand. ASU will have to force Rice to shoot from the perimeter to limit his impact.
Following right behind Rice is a 6’ 9” senior forward, Isaac Jones. The Idaho transfer, originally from Spanaway, Wash., scores a team-best 15.7 points per game while leading the team in field goal percentage at 58.3%. Jones also averages 7.6 rebounds. He had an impactful 16 points last night in the win down in Tucson, ending Arizona’s 13-game home winning streak. He has showcased himself as a versatile forward attacking below the three-point arc, converting at a torrid rate of 61% from that range. The Senior also shoots a respectable 73% from the free-throw line.
Rounding out the trio of impact players is forward Jaylen Wells, the leading scorer in Thursday night’s upset victory at McKale Center. The Sacramento, Calif. native, who stands at 6’ 8”, 205 pounds, scored a season-high 27 points against the Wildcats and is now averaging 11.8 points, along with 4.5 rebounds, and boasting an impressive 83.1% clip from the free-throw line. The forward is a deadly long-range shooter, averaging 44.6% from three-point range, ranking him as one of the top Pac-12 weapons in that department.
On the defensive front, WSU is known for being one of the tallest starting five in college basketball. Rice, Jones, and Wells stand at 6’ 3”, 6’ 9”, and 6’ 8”, respectively, as the other two members of that lineup are center Oscar Cluff (6’ 11”) and forward Andrej Jakimovski (6’ 8”). This length allows Smith’s squad to play effective man-defense that normally limits the capabilities of opposing frontcourt players in the paint.
For ASU, this matchup might prove to be an uphill battle from a pure talent standpoint, much like ASU’s game in Tucson last Saturday. A strong start is a necessity, not a luxury, and needless to say that, unlike their last two games, the Sun Devils cannot afford to go to the locker room with a double-digit halftime deficit that was the byproduct of seeing their foe end that period with a 16-0 run. Overcoming a 25-point hole against Washington State’s in-state rival last night was commendable, but it’s also a scenario that is unlikely to repeat itself against a much more formidable Cougar squad.
Arizona State will also have to be fundamentally sound down low. Last week, Arizona repeatedly found paydirt on backdoor cuts and attacking the rim. ASU was outscored in the paint 52-16, and WSU likes to play a similar style of offense and is surely game-planning to exploit the perceived ASU weakness.
ASU junior point guard Frankie Collins will have to be more potent in the first half and prevent his team from consistently chasing their opponent in that period. As much as scoring 19 points in the second half was key in outscoring Washington 51-30, head coach Bobby Hurley lamented Collins’s inability to prevent the Sun Devils from being a non-factor in the early goings of the contest. It’s rare for Collins to foul out, but saddled with five fouls early in overtime seemed doomed Arizona State in their quest for what could have been their largest comeback win ever.
As the regular season is now down to four games, the mission for Hurley and company remains the same: try to set yourself up the best way possible for the Pac-12 tournament. As well as Washington State has played, they have been susceptible on the road as three of four conference losses this year took place away from Pullman. Then again, the win at Arizona may signal a turning of the page in that department.
A win on Saturday would not only keep the Sun Devils from further dropping in the Pac-12 standings but would put ASU in a good spot before the Arizona rematch this Wednesday. It’s anyone’s guess what kind of Sun Devil team we’ll see on Saturday, but to measure any measure of marked progress against an opponent of the Cougars’ caliber is as stiff of a challenge as Arizona State has faced all year long.
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