Washington State will try for a home-and-home sweep of archrival Washington when the teams take the court in Seattle on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars (15-12, 8-8 Pac-12) ended a five-game losing streak when they defeated the Huskies 78-70 on Wednesday in Pullman, Wash. Washington State owned the paint, with Mouhamed Gueye and Efe Abogidi combining for 46 points and 19 rebounds to hand Washington (13-13, 8-8) its fourth consecutive loss.
“It’s the Apple Cup. We had to make sure we showed up,” said Gueye, a 6-foot-11 freshman from Senegal who scored a game-high 25 points.
Abogidi, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Nigeria, scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. After the Huskies pulled within 71-70 with 2:31 remaining, Abogidi grabbed one of his 10 offensive rebounds and finished with a dunk to help thwart the comeback bid.
“Efe was tremendous on the offensive boards,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said. “Mouhamed really stuck to the game plan. They were pretty much daring him to make his shots, and he made enough.”
The production wasn’t expected. Gueye had scored 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting in his previous three games, and Abogidi failed to score in three of the Cougars’ previous four games, making 2 of 17 from the field.
“I was surprised I was that wide open,” Gueye said. “I’m not used to that. When I realized I was open all the time, I kept shooting. Every time you see a shot go in, you see your confidence go up.”
The Cougars also limited Washington’s Terrell Brown Jr., who entered the game with a conference-leading 21.8 points per game, to a season-low-tying 11 on 5-for-13 shooting.
PJ Fuller scored 23 points, making five 3-pointers, for the Huskies, who were without injured starters Daejon Davis (shoulder) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (concussion protocol).
“On the road it’s hard, especially against good teams,” Washington coach Mike Hopkins said. “You want to put yourself in position to win and we did. … A couple of loose balls and couple of plays here and there and it could have been a different scenario. They made those plays.”
–Field Level Media
