PULLMAN, Wash. – Finishing a two-game Pacific Northwest road trip, the SUU men’s basketball team suffered a 98-74 defeat at Washington State.
While the defeat wasn’t as lopsided as Monday night’s, the Thunderbirds suffered their fourth double-digit loss of the season in just the sixth game.
SUU led by as many as six (23-17) in the opening minutes, but the lead would slip as WSU went on a 13-2 run to get in front 30-25.
The T-birds would cut the deficit to four (39-35) with just over six minutes left in the first half, but would not get any closer.
Washington State closed out the half on a 15-5 run to take a 54-40 lead to the halftime break.
After cutting the home team’s lead down to 11 in the opening minutes of the second half (58-47), the Cougars answered by scoring 18 of the next 20 points to push their advantage to 76-49 with 11:31 to play.
Washington State would lead by as many as 28 before rolling to a 98-74 win and sending the T-birds home with a third straight loss.
SUU once again had no answer defensively – a common theme this season – as WSU shot 57 percent from the field (39-68).
The Thunderbirds were dominated in most statistical categories, including rebounds (36-26), points in the paint (48-32), second-chance points (21-4), and turnovers (14-7).
Dylan Jones led the T-birds in the loss, scoring 24 points while hitting 5 three-pointers.
The loss drops SUU’s record to 1-5.
Up next
Southern Utah (1-5) returns to Cedar City to take on Nobel University at 6:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The game can be seen on ESPN+.
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics.
