Washington State gets a shot to avenge its most recent defeat when the Cougars visit Stanford in a Pacific-12 Conference showdown of hot clubs Thursday at Palo Alto, Calif.
Washington State (12-7, 5-3 Pac-12) has won three in a row to move above .500 in the conference after a 2-3 start that included a 62-57 home defeat at the hands of Stanford (13-7, 6-4) on Jan. 13.
That game was delayed 75 minutes by COVID testing and featured a 23-0 flurry by the Cardinal in the second half after they had trailed by nine at the break. Brandon Angel and Spencer Jones had 16 points apiece in the win.
Angel hit a key 3-pointer late in Stanford’s 57-50 home win over California on Tuesday. It was the Cardinal’s third win in their last four games overall, and ninth in 10 home outings this season.
Stanford won despite shooting just 42.0 percent. Jaiden Delaire, one of two Cardinal players with 12 points, credited center James Keefe, whose game-high 11 rebounds and two key deflections to teammates on the offensive boards late in the game were difference makers.
“Coming down the stretch, Keefe was in there being an animal,” Delaire said. “Had two loose balls that Spencer (Jones) got a layup and I got an and-1. Those were all because my man here (Keefe) was crashing.”
Keefe shot 4 of 4 from the field and contributed eight points and six rebounds to the earlier win over Washington State, which got a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from its big man, Mouhamed Gueye.
The freshman from Senegal, via Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., has scored eight or more points four times in the Cougars’ last five games. He has shot 61.1 percent over that stretch.
“He’s been really good,” Washington State coach Kyle Smith assessed. “You could see it coming in practice.”
Defense has been the key to the Cougars’ winning streak. They held Cal, Utah and Colorado to an average of 51.3 points, getting better by the game — 57, 54 and 43 points allowed in that order, after surrendering 62 in the loss to Stanford.
The Cardinal have dominated the Cougars in recent years, winning 15 of 17 overall and seven straight at home.
The last time Washington State won at Stanford was 61-58 in January of 2011.
–Field Level Media
