Cougar men advance in WCC Tournament
Washington State defeated Loyola Marymount 94-77 on Saturday in the West Coast Conference Tournament
LAS VEGAS — Nate Calmese and Ethan Price dropped 22 points apiece and the Washington State Cougars beat the Loyola Marymount Lions 94-77 to advance in the men’s basketball West Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday at Orleans Arena.
With the win, the Cougars (19-13) will play third-seeded San Francisco (23-8) at 8 p.m. today.
“The first one’s always the hardest one,” Calmese said in a postgame ESPN+ interview. “We’re just ready for tomorrow to play San Francisco, a great team.”
Ethan Price scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, connecting on 8-of-9 shots from the floor.
LeJuan Watts dropped a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Myron Amey Jr. led LMU (17-15) with 16 points.
The Cougars opened with sizzling offensive production, shooting 51.5% in the first half with 13 assists to four turnovers.
LMU closed the gap on several occasions, drawing within 10 points of WSU early in the second half before Calmese connected from deep up the right side to give the Cougs a 53-40 lead with about 17 minutes left in the game.
The Lions used an eight-minute 15-3 run to shrink the WSU lead to eight points. Then it was Calmese who sank another 3 to stop the bleeding.
An Isaiah Watts dunk followed by back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of free throws from WSU reserve Rihards Vavers extended the Cougar lead to 18 points.
Vavers finished with four treys and a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the free-throw line for 16 points.
The Cougars expanded the lead to as many as 19 points and won by 17.
WSU split the regular season series with USF, with the home team winning each one.
“It’s gonna be a hard-fought game,” WSU coach David Riley said. “Their whole team is super talented.”
The winner of WSU-USF will play a well-rested Gonzaga in the semifinals.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (17-15)
Merkviladze 1-5 1-4 4, Porter 4-12 3-4 13, Stone-Carrawell 3-10 2-2 10, Issanza 3-3 1-2 7, Johnston 1-9 2-2 5, Amey 6-12 1-2 16, Vide 2-4 6-6 10, McBride 1-1 3-4 5, Lewis 3-3 1-2 7, Ristic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 20-28 77.
WASHINGTON ST. (19-13)
Erikstrup 2-6 0-0 4, Price 8-9 4-6 22, L.Watts 4-8 2-5 12, Calmese 9-17 1-2 22, I.Watts 3-11 4-5 11, Thrastarson 1-2 1-4 3, Vavers 4-5 4-4 16, Okafor 2-4 0-0 4, Gerrits 0-1 0-2 0, Sessoms 0-0 0-0 0, Wynott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-63 16-28 94.
Halftime — Washington St. 47-39. 3-Point Goals — Loyola Marymount 9-31 (Amey 3-5, Stone-Carrawell 2-7, Porter 2-8, Merkviladze 1-3, Johnston 1-8), Washington St. 12-32 (Vavers 4-5, Calmese 3-8, Price 2-3, L.Watts 2-3, I.Watts 1-8, Gerrits 0-1, Thrastarson 0-1, Erikstrup 0-3). Fouled Out — Erikstrup. Rebounds — Loyola Marymount 33 (Porter, Amey 8), Washington St. 37 (L.Watts 13). Assists — Loyola Marymount 14 (Merkviladze 5), Washington St. 26 (Calmese 7). Total Fouls — Loyola Marymount 19, Washington St. 20.
