'UW rejects' lead Cougars to tight win over Huskies

SEATTLE - DaVonte Lacy, Josh Hawkinson and their Washington State teammates stepped out onto the hardwood at Alaska Airlines Arena to a familiar tune.

And by the time the final whistle blew, it looked like Lacy and Hawkinson had taken the "UW rejects" chant to heart.

Better yet, they took a crucial and rare rivalry win back to the Palouse.

Lacy and Hawkinson, both products of the greater Seattle area and under-recruited by UW, made the key plays down the stretch and guided the Cougars to an 80-77 win to give WSU consecutive conference road wins for the first time since 2009. The game had a little more sting to it for UW, which fell to its fourth consecutive loss after beginning the season 11-0 and with a No. 13 national ranking.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't mean a little extra," said Lacy, a Tacoma native, who converted all six of his free throws with less than 40 seconds remaining to preserve the lead, which had been cushioned by Hawkinson's three-point play just seconds early.

The sophomore slipped past a screen and cut to the basket on an inbounds play to lay the ball in, before drawing a foul from UW's Mike Anderson. Hawkinson made the free throw and, less than one minute later, hauled down the game's final rebound coming off Anderson's missed 3 in the waning seconds.

"I've got a lot of friends and family here that got a chance to see me play when I'm back home," said Hawkinson, who earlier in the week admitted he'd been passed over by UW - also his mother's alma mater - during the recruiting process. " It's always good to get the win in your home stadium."

Hawkinson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and Lacy added 25, but the Cougars (8-7, 2-1) had to look elsewhere in the first half for their offensive production.

Take the nine first-half points from reserve Que Johnson, who finished with a season-high 15. Or the 11 first-half points from Brett Boese, who also came off the bench to hit a trio of 3-point shots but may have been just as important on the defensive end, where he was tasked with guarding Shawn Kemp Jr.

"You think about the size and strength difference and he did a wonderful job on him," first-year Cougar coach Ernie Kent said.

Kent had compliments for most who wore WSU's crimson Saturday - a sign his team, which came into the game fresh off an upset at Cal, is "coming of age."

"This was a team I was told couldn't defend, their numbers told you that the last couple of years," Kent said. "They couldn't shoot it. Their numbers told you that the last couple of years. Couldn't shoot free throws. Their numbers told you that the last couple of years."

Saturday's numbers told a different tale.

WSU did allow UW to shoot 49 percent from the field, but the Cougars connected on 46 percent of their own tries and made 7 of 14 3-point attempts in the first half to knot things up at 37-37. Meanwhile, they went 15-for-16 from the free throw line and made their last 14 attempts from the charity stripe.

And they accomplished all of that playing at the speed that Kent envisioned when he took the job in March.

"That's the fastest we've played, that's as fast as any Oregon team I've had that can play that fast," Kent said, adding that sophomore Ike Iroegbu (13 points, five assists) "was the difference in the game, because he got us running."

Had the score been flip-flopped, Kent might have found himself saying that UW sophomore Nigel Williams-Goss was the catalyst. Though he could never push the Huskies over the edge, Williams-Goss scored a game-high 30 points, doled out six assists and snatched seven rebounds. He also scored 10 of UW's final 16 points.

WSU returns to Beasley Coliseum this week for its home conference opener - a Thursday evening tipoff with Kent's former team, the Oregon Ducks.

WASHINGTON ST. (8-7)

Iroegbu 5-11 2-2 13, Redding 1-3 2-2 4, Railey 1-3 0-0 2, Hawkinson 3-9 2-3 8, Lacy 8-17 7-7 25, Kernich-Drew 0-0 0-0 0, Longrus 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 5-9 2-2 15, Boese 4-7 0-0 11. Totals 28-61 15-16 80.

WASHINGTON (11-4)

Williams-Goss 13-22 4-4 30, Anderson 3-8 2-2 10, Andrews 4-10 3-3 12, Jarreau 0-1 0-0 0, Kemp Jr. 6-9 0-1 12, Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Winters 1-3 0-0 3, Upshaw 5-9 0-0 10, Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 9-10 77.

Halftime-Tied 37-37. 3-Point Goals-Washington St. 9-24 (Johnson 3-4, Boese 3-5, Lacy 2-9, Iroegbu 1-2, Hawkinson 0-4), Washington 4-19 (Anderson 2-6, Winters 1-3, Andrews 1-5, Johnson 0-2, Williams-Goss 0-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Washington St. 34 (Hawkinson 11), Washington 31 (Anderson 8). Assists-Washington St. 13 (Iroegbu 5), Washington 14 (Williams-Goss 6). Total Fouls-Washington St. 12, Washington 20. A-7,595.

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Lawson may be contacted at tlawson@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260. Follow him on Twitter @TheoLawson_Trib.