Eastern Washington led Oregon by as many as nine points in the second half, but couldn't hold off a Ducks rally late, as they fell 73-65. It was their second straight tight loss against a high level opponent, as they fell in the season opener to Gonzaga.
The culprit was poor shooting for the Eagles. Cliff Colimon led them in scoring with 14 points, but he was just 4/14 from the field. Tremayne Johnson was next with 12 points (and 7 rebounds), but he shot just 4/15 from the field. Collin Chiverton had been averaging 25 PPG in his first two efforts, but he was plagued by some foul trouble in this game, as he only played 15 minutes before fouling out. He finished with 8 points and 3 rebounds.
I am sure that Jim Hayford has to be disappointed with his two close losses rather than having a signature win, but the Eagles have looked very competitive this year, with the consensus being that they look like one of the top three teams in the Big Sky. They travel to Hawaii next Tuesday, a game I am sure they believe they can and will win.
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The Hornets used an eight-man rotation throughout the game, and built leads of 7-0, 25-12, and 29-16 during the first half. Neither team had a lead larger than four points the first 9:28 of the second half before a layup from Faisal Aden gave Washington State their largest lead - at the time - of five points with 10:32 remaining. The Cougars led the rest of the way as the Hornets were down just six points with 4:37 remaining before a DaVonte Lacy three-pointer put WSU up nine points.John Dickson led them in scoring and had a real nice game, scoring 21 points (on 9/18 FG) and grabbing 6 rebounds. They need him to be their star, and he delivered in this game. He is probably their most talented and athletic player.
Reigning Big Sky POW Joe Eberhard was also big, finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. He continues to be a great find for Brian Katz, as he is averaging 13 points and 8.7 rebounds per game so far this year. The other star was a guy I have been praising all year, and that is Dylan Garrity. He has not provided much scoring this year (5 points in this one), but he continues to dish out assists and make plays at a great rate. He had 12 assists in this game, and for the year he has 25 assists to 4 turnovers. He could quickly become one of the best PGs in the Big Sky.
Eagles and Hornets fans, what did you think of your teams' performances?
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Sac St looks to be much improved this year. They could really surprise some people.
ReplyDeleteSac State got hosed by the refs in the Palouse. The only difference in the game was FT's (and the fouls that were called to get WSU to the line). Each team hit the same amount of FG's and 3FG's.
ReplyDeleteBottom line, I think the Hornets win with Veteto and Estrada if they weren't held out because of injury. Sac has probably every right to feel angry about that.
No doubt that Sac State looks to be very much improved this year... I have been impressed by what I have, no doubt about it!
ReplyDeleteAnd 2nd Anon, I can't comment on that because I didn't see the game. There's always lots of possible reasons for foul discrepancies... were you able to watch the game at all?
"Tight ones" is a nice way of saying the refs cheated for the pac12 losers.
ReplyDelete