PULLMAN, Wash. — Eastern Washington stayed within reach all game but couldn't quite punch through on Monday night in Pullman, losing to the Washington State Cougars, 82-72. WSU's Myles Rice scored a career-high 28 while EWU was led by 17 from
Ethan Price and 16 from
Casey Jones.
The Eagles (1-5) held WSU (5-1) to 45.3% (26-for-94) from the field and 30.8% (8-for-26) from beyond the arc, marking their best defensive performance of the season against a Division-I opponent.
"Our big focus this week was our half-court defense. We shored that up," said head coach David Riley. "The guys were a unit. This is the first game (this season) where I felt like we could switch things up and make adjustments because we were doing things right."
Rice was electric off the opening tip, sinking his first five attempts from beyond the arc to power Wazzu to a 25-13 lead midway through the first half.
The Cougs led by 12 with four minutes left but Eastern refused to fold, driving the lane and finding the free throw line to stay within 8 at the break. The Eags went 13-for-16 from the charity stripe in the first and 18-for-23 in the game, led by Jones, who scored 9 of his 16 points from the line. Cedric Coward added 6.
The second half was more of the same as the Cougars held the Eagles at bay, carrying a 10-point advantage after a Rice jumper with 10:36 left before EWU freshman guard Mason Williams caught fire, scoring 8-straight points capped by a long three from the right wing to make it a 58-56 WSU edge at 8:11.
That was as close as Eastern got as WSU scored the next 10 straight to take control for good, cleaning the offensive glass to earn extra possessions. The Cougs led rebounding 35-28 overall, including 15-6 offensive, on their way to 15 second-chance points.
"Washington State is an incredible offensive rebounding team but if we want to be a championship-caliber team, we've got to figure out how to neutralize those guys," continued Riley.
"This team is coming along. We're going to be really, really good but I just want to get there faster."
The Eagles will have little time to rest as they head south to face another Pac-12 foe, Southern California, in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Eastern has faced USC just once in their history, losing 51-69 back in 2005. They'll then have a short in-season break, not playing again until Dec. 9 when they take on Air Force in Colorado.
Season tickets for EWU men's and women's basketball are now available and start as low as $100! Tickets for basketball and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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