HONOLULU, Hawaii — Offense was hard to come by down the stretch for the Cougars in a 62-51 semifinal loss to the host Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Friday at Stan Sheriff Center.
Washington State (5-7) averaged 69.9 points per game coming into the contest but struggled from the field shooting just 18-of-59 (30.5%) — a season low for coach Kyle Smith’s group.
The loss moved the Cougars to the third-place game against the Utah State Aggies at 3:30 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.
Hawaii (8-3) will face the Southern Methodist Mustangs at 5:30 p.m. Pacific in the championship game the same day.
T.J. Bamba led all Washington State players with 19 points. He was the only Cougar to reach double figures.
Bamba was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line where the Cougars were 12-of-15 (80%) as a team.
Justin Powell struggled going 0-of-7 from the field for zero points.
The game was tied at 31 with 13:53 remaining before the Warriors went on a 12-4 run. WSU went scoreless for a nearly four-minute stretch midway through the half as the Warriors started to pull away.
Another 7-0 run for Hawaii late in the half that gave the Warriors a 15-point advantage put the game out of reach
Samuta Avea led Hawaii with 19 points. Jovon McClanahan added 16 points and Noel Coleman finished with 13.
Washington State used a 9-0 run to take an 18-10 lead halfway through the first half before baskets became hard to come by. The Cougars scored only five points in the final nine minutes of the half.
WSU shot just 8-of-28 (28.6%) in a first half where both teams struggled to manufacture offense. Both teams had just one assist through the first twenty minutes. Washington State only converted two assists the entire game.
WASHINGTON STATE (5-7)
Bamba 6-18 6-6 19, Rodman 1-4 2-3 5, Powell 0-7 0-0 0, Houinsou 2-5 2-3 6, Gueye 3-9 1-1 7, Mullins 3-8 0-0 7, Rosario 0-0 0-0 0, Darling 1-4 0-1 2, Diongue 2-4 1-1 5. Totals 18-59 12-15 51.
HAWAII (8-3)
Hepa 1-6 2-2 4, da Silva 1-3 1-2 3, Avea 8-14 1-3 19, McClanahan 6-7 4-4 16, Coleman 5-13 3-5 13, Rouhliadeff 0-0 0-0 0, Seck 0-1 0-1 0, Jackson 1-2 0-0 2, Riley 1-1 2-2 5. Totals 23-47 13-19 62.
Halftime — Hawai’i, 24-23 . 3-point goals — Washington State 3-13 (Rodman 1-2, Bamba 1-3, Mullins 1-4, Powell 0-4), Hawai’i 3-11 (Avea 2-4, Riley 1-1, Hepa 0-3, Coleman 0-3). Rebounds — Washington State 32 (Diongue 8), Hawai’i 35 (Hepa, McClanahan, Seck 6). Assists — Washington State 2 (Gueye, Rosario 1), Hawai’i 6 (McClanahan 6). Total fouls — Washington State 19, Hawai’i 14. Technical — Darling. A — 4,683.
