SEATTLE — Taylor Rochestie couldn’t remember a more uncharacteristic Washington State effort than what the Cougars put forth against No. 4 Gonzaga.
That’s what made Saturday night’s convincing win over Montana State a satisfying result following the Cougars’ embarrassing loss to the Bulldogs.
Klay Thompson scored 14 points, Daven Harmeling scored 10 of his 13 in the first half, and Washington State used its efficient offense and swarming defense to stymie the Bobcats 70-51.
Just a few days earlier, the Cougars were thoroughly dismantled by Gonzaga, which outscored them 42-23 in the second half of a 74-52 loss to the Zags. But WSU rebounded Saturday to snap a rare losing streak in recent seasons.
“We took a step back against Gonzaga,” Rochestie said. “Today, I don’t know how big the step was until I watch the film, but it was a step forward.”
It was without question a positive effort for the Cougars’ offense. WSU shot a season best 58 percent and nearly had six players in double figures.
Along with Harmeling and Thompson, Rochestie added 11 points, and Caleb Forrest scored 10. Aron Baynes and DeAngelo Casto both just missed hitting double figures with nine and eight points respectively.
“They’ve got a lot of scorers and they use them efficiently on offense,” Montana State coach Brad Huse said.
The Cougars were coming off consecutive losses to No. 22 Baylor and Gonzaga, both at home. It was the first time WSU had lost back-to-back non-conference games since the 2004-05 season, when the Cougars lost to Oklahoma State and Gonzaga.
There wasn’t going to be a third straight setback.
Playing its annual game at Seattle’s KeyArena, Washington State started strong behind Harmeling’s early shooting and then pulled away in the second half as Thompson and Rochestie got started at the offensive end for the Cougars.
Thompson then kept the hot shooting going, hitting 4 of 5 shots to start the second half including a pair of 3-pointers. His second 3 gave WSU a 41-29.
WSU led by as many as 23.
“We had more patience, better shot selections. Yes, it was a different opponent, but we tried to take what the offense gave us, instead of settling for a decent shot we tried to get a really good shot,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “We weren’t perfect but I thought it was better.”
Even before the consecutive losses, the Bobcats were drawing the Cougars’ attention, thanks to early season wins over Oregon State and Colorado. Danny Piepoli led Montana State (4-4) with 14 points off the bench, but Howard, the Bobcats’ leading scorer at 14 points per game, struggled the most with WSU’s aggressive, swarming defense. Howard hit just two of nine shots and finished with five points, the third time in the last four games Howard failed to score in double figures.
“It’s pretty obvious we’re still a work in progress. I don’t think anyone will argue with me on that one, but thankfully our offense was there and we got enough stops,” Bennett said.
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