The Cougars overcame a painfully slow start and a spotty offensive performance to down offense-challenged Pepperdine, 67-56, Thursday night in the seventh annual Cougar Hardwood Classic at KeyArena.
The Cougars (8-4) carry a six-game winning streak into their Pacific-12 Conference opener against Oregon next Thursday at the Spokane Arena.
Asked what his team needs to shore up going into conference play, WSU coach Ken Bone smiled and said, “How long do you have?”
Bone said he is “really proud of the guys” for winning six straight after an 0-3 showing at a tournament in Anaheim, Calif., last month. Bone was quick to add, “We need to get better quickly.”
The Cougars certainly don’t figure to win many games in which they go scoreless for the first five minutes, as they did Thursday. Fortunately for WSU, the Waves countered the Cougars’ 0-for-8 shooting in the first five minutes with a scoreless, 0-for-6 effort of their own.
The Waves (6-5), who average 60 points a game and shoot 39 percent from the field, had to get relatively hot late in the game to finish with 36 percent shooting. Pepperdine trailed 26-15 at halftime after shooting a frosty 23 percent (6-for-26).
Leading the way for the Cougars was season scoring leader Faisal Aden, who came off the bench for the second straight game since recovering from a concussion. He scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the first half.
Aden said he “felt more comfortable” than in his first game back against Western Oregon on Sunday.
WSU’s DaVonte Lacy, a freshman guard from Curtis High School, played aggressively and matched his season high of 15 points. Brock Motum added 11 points and six rebounds, and Charlie Enquist had a team-high seven rebounds and scored all eight of his points in the second half.
Corbin Moore paced Pepperdine with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Taylor Darby added 13 points and 10 boards.
The Cougars, who shot 40 percent, outrebounded Pepperdine 40-38. Except for one tie, WSU has outrebounded every opponent since being outrebounded in its first three games.
New WSU football coach Mike Leach received a standing ovation when he briefly spoke to the crowd at halftime, as did Greg Rankich, who was saluted in the first half after it was announced earlier he had given the largest donation ($3 million) in WSU athletics history.
