Watts returns as WSU readies to host Zags in expected sellout

PULLMAN — Isaiah Watts admits he remembers his biggest misses. His Washington State team counts on him to fill it up on the scoreboard, and as his sophomore season comes to a close, he’s obliged in some of the biggest spots.

There’s the go-ahead 3-pointer he hit against Drake in last season’s NCAA Tournament. The game-tying 3-pointer he made against Pepperdine earlier this month. The flurry of 3-pointers he made to help the Cougars hold off Boise State earlier this season. He’s often come through in the most meaningful moments.

That’s why he remembers when he doesn’t. Earlier this month, for example, he had an open look at a straightaway 3-pointer against Oregon State, which would have pulled WSU within three points as the clock ticked under a minute. It clanged off the rim, and the Cougs absorbed their fifth consecutive loss, tumbling out of contention for an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.

“It’s a calculation,” Watts said. “When I miss shots, like I just told my coaches today, I’m highly confident that I’ll make the next one just based off of how it came off my hands, or how I missed. So those shots definitely stick with me. Those are definitely learning opportunities every time I shoot the ball. It definitely sticks with me.”

Watts has become the go-to scorer in large part thanks to that approach. Sidelined for 10 games with a hand injury earlier this season, Watts has scored in double figures in three of the five games since his return, including a 15-point showing in the Cougars’ comeback win over Pepperdine and a 14-point outing in their road loss to Saint Mary’s last weekend.

For WSU to topple Gonzaga tonight, an expected sellout in the Zags’ first trip to 12,000-seat Beasley Coliseum in a decade, Watts might have to give his group more. The good news for the Cougars is that he’s in the mood to do just that, re-establishing the rhythm he was enjoying in late December, before he went down with his injury, causing him to miss WSU’s road loss to GU in January.

He’s hit six of his past 12 3-point tries, including 4-for-6 against the Waves. He’s also handed out three assists in each of his past two games. In perhaps an even more important development, he’s only had two total turnovers in that stretch.

“I’ve been working really hard, staying in the gym long hours, waking up early, going to sleep early,” Watts said, “just making sure I put my extra work in. Trying to force my rhythm back, for real. I feel like I’m gaining it, gaining momentum. So I feel like tomorrow is going to be a big day for me.”

What makes Watts special is in his work ethic and the way he remembers slights. Sitting out last month’s WSU/GU clash in Spokane, he experienced more of the same.

“A lot of their fans were talking trash, saying whatever to me, but it made me want to play more, missing that at Gonzaga,” Watts said. “I’m that type of player that just enjoys playing in front of big crowds, especially opposing crowds. I love to talk a little trash, so I’m gonna make sure I talk some trash (Wednesday).”

“No. 1, a great outside threat that can attack the rim and play-make for us offensively,” WSU coach David Riley said of Watts. “Defensively, our best perimeter defender. I think that’s really important for us to have Isaiah back and playing with much better rhythm than he was the first couple games. So it’s a weapon for us.”

With or without Watts, though, the Cougars (16-11, 6-8 West Coast Conference) will have to be better than they have in the past several weeks. They ended a five-game skid by coming back to beat Pepperdine on Feb. 8, but that required a furious rally in the game’s final moments, and they’re coming off Saturday’s 77-56 road loss to first-place Saint Mary’s. It’s a long fall from their 13-3 start to the season.

If Riley took anything away from his team’s setback to Gonzaga (20-7, 11-3) on Jan. 11, it was that WSU must get off to a better start to the second half. The Bulldogs ran away with an 88-75 win thanks in large part to their 8-0 run to open the second half, good for a double-digit lead, which is much the same way the Gaels pulled away from the Cougars last weekend.

In that one, WSU took an early lead, then trailed by only four at halftime. But that’s about when things went south for the Cougars, who yielded a 16-2 run to open the second half, allowing the Gaels to cruise to the finish line.

“We’re playing really good coaches,” said Riley, who is facing the WCC’s two most decorated coaches in back-to-back games, Randy Bennett of Saint Mary’s and GU’s Mark Few. “I thought Saint Mary’s on Saturday had a really nice adjustment to our ball screen coverages, and they got two clean looks on the first two possessions in the second half. I think we lost focus a little bit and started worrying about how we’re going to do this, that and the other, rather than just staying in the fight. I think we gotta weather the storm a little bit better.”

On defense, the Cougars will also need to find a way to contain GU big Graham Ike, who scored 21 points in the teams’ first meeting, using his physical play to beat WSU forwards Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup and his size to score over backup ND Okafor.

The Cougars also lost track of two of the Zags’ best shooters, Khalif Battle and Nolan Hickman, who combined for 29 points on seven 3-pointers.

That avalanche began early in the second half. To win their first home sellout since a December 2010 game against No. 5 Kansas State, to climb closer to the No. 6 seed that would give them a bye to the conference tournament’s third round, the Cougars will have to be better at that juncture. Getting Watts back in the fold figures to help.

“You know me, man,” Watts said . “As soon as the first one goes in and I hear (the crowd) scream, I’m good. I’m gonna feed off them a lot.”