Freshman phenom Ayton too much for Cougs

At 7-foot-1 and 250 pounds, Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton has routinely drawn comparisons to some of the NBA’s historic big men, including Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon.

After watching the budding phenom from a front-row seat during a Pac-12 matchup Wednesday night, Washington State coach Ernie Kent certainly believes the hype.

“It’s very difficult to double-team him, it’s very difficult to put any pressure on his jump shot ... because he’s such a dominant player and a great athlete on top of it,” Kent said. “You can see why there’s three first-round draft picks on that team, and he might very easily be the guy that can go No. 1 or No. 2. He’s one of those true centers that you don’t see anymore in basketball.”

Ayton put together yet another commanding performance with NBA scouts in attendance at Beasley Coliseum, tallying 25 points and 11 rebounds to help the ninth-ranked Wildcats cruise to a 100-72 road win against the Cougars in front of a season-high 4,607 spectators.

“That is one of the more dominant teams in college basketball, I think people understand why they were picked to not only go to the Final Four, but picked to be the potential national champions,” Kent said. “They’ve got size all over the court, two outstanding bigs. They’ve got big wings that can score — (Rawle) Alkins makes them so much better. We had our hands full.”

It didn’t take long for Ayton to showcase his talents, as the freshman soared over Viont’e Daniels for a two-handed slam on an alley-oop toss from Parker Jackson-Cartwright midway through the first half. The NBA prospect routinely fought through double-team efforts to finish the night with six dunks — each more powerful than the one which preceded it.

“He’s very skilled, we knew we would have a tough time just going into the game,” Washington State forward Robert Franks said. “With his size and his skill, it’s going to be very tough.”

The Cougars (9-12 overall, 1-8 Pac-12) could never quite seem to get their offense in a rhythm, as the squad surrendered 52 points in the paint and lost the rebounding battle by a 42-23 margin.

“They’re pretty dominant, I thought we did a decent job at times on them, but they can get away from you so quick and so fast — inside, outside, with 3s,” Kent said.

A bright spot for Washington State was the performance of Franks, as the junior forward finished with a game-high 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Malachi Flynn came off the bench to post a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists, while Daniels added another 10 points in the loss.

Turning point

After the Cougars tied the game at 20-20 midway through the first half, Alkins took the hardwood for his first action since missing two games with soreness in his right foot. The sophomore guard swished three straight 3-pointers to help launch a 25-5 scoring run for the Wildcats, securing a double-digit advantage the squad would not relent for the remainder of the contest.

FLUSTERED FLYNN

Kent made a surprising pregame change to his starting five, pulling Flynn from the lineup in favor of Daniels and Carter Skaggs on the perimeter. Flynn previously started 51 consecutive games for Washington State before missing tipoff Wednesday night.

“That’s between me and Malachi,” Kent said of the decision. “I thought he responded extremely well ... everything’s fine with him, he’ll be great.”

Record watch

Daniels helped the Cougars set a new single-season record for 3-pointers when he swished an uncontested trey from the left wing late in the second half. The bucket helped the squad surpass the previous mark of 240, which was set in 37 games during the 2010-11 season.

“It says a lot about our shooting, but it doesn’t mean anything if we can’t get a win behind it,” Franks said. “We just brush that aside and try to look forward to getting a win every game.”

Up next 

Washington State returns to Beasley Coliseum on Sunday for a 1 p.m. conference matchup with No. 25 Arizona State (16-5 overall, 4-5 Pac-12).

ARIZONA (19-4)

Ayton 11-12 3-5 25, Ristic 5-10 2-2 12, Smith 1-7 0-0 2, Trier 8-9 4-5 24, Jackson-Cartwright 0-5 0-0 0, Pinder 2-2 2-2 6, Lee 0-0 1-6 1, Desjardins 0-1 0-0 0, Denny 0-0 0-0 0, Weyand 0-0 0-0 0, Akot 1-2 0-0 3, Barcello 2-2 0-0 4, Randolph 3-6 0-0 7, Alkins 6-8 0-2 16. Totals 39-64 12-22 100.

WASHINGTON ST. (9-12)

Chidom 1-3 0-0 2, Franks 7-12 6-6 25, Bernstine 1-8 3-4 5, Skaggs 1-6 0-0 3, Daniels 3-5 2-2 10, Pollard 2-2 0-1 4, Cooper 1-2 2-5 4, Ergas 2-2 0-0 4, Flynn 3-10 4-4 11, Hinson 0-0 0-0 0, Acquaah 1-2 2-2 4, Shpreyregin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 19-24 72.

Halftime—Arizona 53-34. 3-Point Goals—Arizona 10-17 (Trier 4-4, Alkins 4-4, Akot 1-1, Randolph 1-2, Jackson-Cartwright 0-2, Smith 0-4), Washington St. 9-24 (Franks 5-7, Daniels 2-4, Skaggs 1-4, Flynn 1-5, Chidom 0-2, Shpreyregin 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Arizona 39 (Ayton 11), Washington St. 19 (Skaggs 4). Assists—Arizona 15 (Jackson-Cartwright 4), Washington St. 14 (Flynn 11). Total Fouls—Arizona 22, Washington St. 19. A—4,607 (11,671).

Joshua Grissom can be reached at jgrissom@dnews.com or on Twitter @JoshuaGNews.