Cougars, Zags renew regional hoops rivalry

Coach David Riley instituted a new rule this week for his Washington State men’s basketball team.

No one was allowed to say “Gonzaga” before the conclusion of WSU’s Thursday meeting with Pacific.

Riley said the goal was to stay focused on the task at hand.

If Thursday’s final score is any evidence, perhaps someone said (or thought about) Gonzaga a little too much.

Pacific, which had not won a West Coast Conference game since 2023, beat WSU 95-94 in overtime behind 40 points from Lamar Washington. The junior from Portland sank the game-winning 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and deal Wazzu its first conference and home loss of the season.

Fresh off a Quad 4 loss, WSU (13-4, 3-1 WCC) faces No. 18 Gonzaga (13-4, 4-0) at 6 p.m. today at “The Kennel” in Spokane. The game will be broadcast on KHQ and ESPN+.

On the women’s side, the Cougars (10-7, 5-1) host the Zags (9-8, 4-2) at noon (ESPN+) at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.

What’s at stake?

The Cougar men’s Thursday Quad 4 loss to a previously 4-13 opponent at home likely dooms any reasonable expectation of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The path to March Madness for Riley in Year 1 appears to be winning the WCC tournament in Las Vegas.

The WCC uses a unique tiered seeding system in which the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have a direct berth to the semifinals.

With the path to the postseason narrowed, WSU senior Ethan Price, who led the Cougs in scoring with 28 points on Thursday, said that whether the Cougs win a game by 50 or lose a close one, their focus should shift to the next opponent.

That next opponent: No. 18-ranked Gonzaga.

The Cougs and Zags last met in 2015 in a nonconference series that included 150 games and 108 continuous seasons.

Now, the two are West Coast Conference foes for the next two seasons and in 2026, Gonzaga will join the new-look Pac-12 Conference with WSU, Oregon State, Boise State and others.

Gonzaga has suffered several close losses to West Virginia, Kentucky, UConn and UCLA, but has taken care of business in conference to start out undefeated in league play.

Scouting the Cougs

WSU has been stricken by the injury bug early in the year, losing its best player and leading scorer Cedric Coward for the year.

Sophomore guard Isaiah Watts is out for the immediate future with an injury to his non-shooting hand. Riley gave no indication that Watts would return by Saturday.

Two role players are also out for the year for WSU, which has led to increased opportunities for younger players such as Lapwai’s Kase Wynott, Olympia’s Parker Gerrits and Icelandic guard Tomas Thrastarson.

Washington transfer Nate Calmese has stepped up to lead active players with 16.2 points per game.

Four former Eastern Washington Eagles followed Riley and his staff from Cheney to Pullman and have helped deliver tough wins over Boise State and Nevada.

With fellow EWU transfer Coward out for the season, LeJuan Watts has found the ball in his hands with a chance to take a shot more often and has capitalized to post 13.8 points per game.

EWU transfer Ethan Price tallied a career-high 28 points in Thursday’s loss — his third game this year with 20-plus points.

Dane Erikstrup, another EWU transfer, has a team-leading 39 3-pointers with a 40% clip from beyond the arc.

The Cougs have shown a knack for racking up points, but have seen their defense falter late in games.

WSU started conference play with an improved defensive approach, limiting San Francisco star Malik Thomas to seven second-half points and the Dons to 33 points in the second half after he dropped 27 in the first 20 minutes in a Cougar victory Jan. 4.

But, WSU allowed Pacific’s Washington to score 40 on Thursday and fell behind early to the Tigers.

Scouting the Zags

The Zags are scoring 87.8 points per game with Ike Graham leading the fray with a 16.3 scoring average.

The Zags have five players who average 10-or-more points per game, including forward Ben Gregg, whose uncle, Gordy Gregg is Lewiston’s former fire chief of 31 years and current Lewis-Clark State College assistant golf coach.

The Zags have not missed March Madness since 1998 and have built that legacy behind a quarter century of Mark Few’s coaching and a unique home venue, the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, aka “The Kennel.”

“It’s loud,” Riley said of the Kennel. “We got to be able to communicate. We got to be able to point and get our message across.”

Riley coached against the Zags in 2019 while an assistant at EWU. It was a 112-77 Bulldog win.

Wazzu women host Gonzaga

Before making the trek to Spokane, local Coug and Zag fans may consider an appetizer of women’s basketball when the Cougs host Gonzaga at noon today in Pullman.

These two programs met last season when the Zags rallied to force overtime and the Cougs pulled ahead to win 77-72 on Nov. 9, 2023.

Former Coug Charlisse Leger-Walker was a huge factor in that game, scoring 26 points. With Leger-Walker no longer on the team, the Cougars’ roster is different than last season’s, with returners Tara Wallack, Eleonora Villa and Astera Tuhina entrusted to lead the team.

WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said her freshmen have gradually adjusted to American college basketball and other younger players have contributed off the bench.

Gonzaga has made the NCAA Tournament under coach Lisa Fortier in eight out of 10 seasons.

The 11th-year coach underwent breast cancer treatment over the past eight months but returned to coach this fall.

Star Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim returned for a fifth year and leads the team with 20.2 points per game.

Ethridge said that Fortier does a great job and that Gonzaga, with so many new faces, is also figuring out how to best play together.

“I don’t think anyone can stop her,” Ethridge said of Ejim. “You gotta have a game plan for her. Just love how she plays, love how she competes, love how she seems to just love that team and that program and give to it night in and night out.”

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.