LAS VEGAS -- On almost too many occasions to count, Washington State watched some of its worst habits creep to the surface in Saturday's WCC tournament third-round affair with LMU.
The sixth-seeded Cougar men got into foul trouble early in the second half. They turned it over a couple times in a row. They failed to hit the glass on missed shots and their free throw shooting issues all but capsized, leaving 12 points on the table all told.
But WSU is moving on to play San Francisco in Sunday's quarterfinals because in this 94-77 win over LMU, the Cougars had an answer every time their bad habits bubbled up, every time the Lions put together some momentum. It must have been a beautiful sight to head coach David Riley, whose group got a game-best 22 points apiece from Nate Calmese and Ethan Price, plus 16 more from Ri Vavers.
WSU and third-seeded San Francisco are set for an 8 p.m. tip-off on Sunday.
The Cougars, who led by as many as 16 in the first half, saw their advantage slashed to eight at the intermission. But WSU opened the second stanza on an 11-1 run. And later in the second half, the Lions scored eight straight points -- only for the Cougs to respond with an 8-2 surge, upping their lead to 58-40.
The Cougs are also getting a meaningful lift from Vavers, who has been in and out of the lineup with various hand injuries. Across his last four games, though, he's now connected on 12 of 16 shots from deep for 42 total points. He hit 4 of 5 for 16 points on Saturday, spacing the floor for players like Calmese, Price and LeJuan Watts, who added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
On Sunday, WSU is also getting a shorthanded San Francisco team, which is playing without first-team all-conference guard Marcus Williams, who has been suspended from playing due to an NCAA rules violation. In USF's home win over WSU on Feb. 1, Williams totaled 17 points on a pair of triples.
It sets up what could be a promising path for WSU. To ensure it stays that way, the Cougars would do well to continue playing like they did on Saturday, erasing mistakes with more promising stretches.
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