A magical season ends: Washington State falls out of NCAA tournament

Mar. 24—Cyclone-force defense proved to be too much for Washington State's March magic to overcome Saturday in the second half of an NCAA tournament Round of 32 game at CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Neb.

The seventh-seeded WSU men's basketball team (25-10) led for most of the first half and went into halftime tied before the more-experienced, second-seeded Iowa State Cyclones (29-7) turned it up a notch in the second period, ending the Cougars' season with a 67-56 loss in March Madness.

Thus WSU's journey from being picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 and returning zero double-digit scorers, to finishing second in the conference, to qualifying for and advancing in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years was complete.

"It's an honor to coach these guys," said WSU coach Kyle Smith, holding back tears. "They're easy man, they were a joy and I appreciate them and can't thank them enough. We talked about gratitude and (being) thankful, and we were thankful every day.

"Today was no different."

WSU junior forward Jaylen Wells scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and provided a spark when senior forward Isaac Jones (eight points, nine rebounds) was in foul trouble. Freshman point guard Myles Rice poured in 13 points and never left the court. Senior forward Andrej Jakimosvski added seven rebounds.

After starting the game 1-of-13 from the floor, Iowa State got hot down the stretch and put four players in double figures, led by guard Tamin Lipsey with 15 points. Fellow guard Curtis Jones contributed 14.

The Cyclones will make their second trip to the Sweet 16 in the last three seasons.

"I think our guys are a very together and poised group," ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger said. "We know we're going to have adversity, and credit Washington State for doing a great job putting us on our heels. But credit to our guys for not panicking, not getting too low or emotional, and staying the course, waiting for it to come back around to us."

Cougars control it early

Wells' step-back 3-pointer made it 7-0 Cougs before ISU made a free throw and then, finally, its first field goal seven minutes into the contest.

The Cougs bumped the advantage up to 11-4 on a long jump shot by Rice with 11:55 to go.

But even with ISU's massive shooting struggles, the Cougars' couldn't take a sizable advantage due to a Cyclones' defense that ranks No. 4 in the NCAA in points allowed at 61.4 per game.

Iowa State took its first lead on a pair of Keshon Gilbert free throws that made it 17-16 'Clones with 5:36 to go in the period.

At halftime, it was all tied up at 27.

"I thought Myles did an awesome job of running our team and getting us shots and Jaylen kept us in there making shots in the first half," Smith said.

Cyclones bring a storm in second period

The start of the second half couldn't have gone much worse for WSU — or better for the Cyclones.

ISU made two quick buckets, then WSU's biggest offensive threat, Isaac Jones, picked up his third foul and went to the bench.

ISU caught fire from 3-point range when three separate players — Lipsey, Curtis Jones and Milan Momcilovic (10 points) — hit a trey in a two-minute span.

The Cyclones led 45-37 after the Momcilovic triple with 11:24 remaining.

WSU cut the lead down to two, but ISU quickly bumped it up to double digits for the first time at 56-46 with 6:46 to go.

"Got in a little bit of foul trouble and the start of that second half (we) dug ourselves a little hole we just couldn't quite get out of," Smith said. "You're going to have to make plays to beat a really good team and you can't do it going 5-of-23 (from 3)."

The Cyclones and their hungry defense scored 21 points off of WSU turnovers. They also threw constant double-teams at Isaac Jones, who had 20 points in WSU's first-round win against Drake.

"They double you, they blitz you at the top of the floor, they throw everyone at you at the baseline, so they're unique," Smith said.

Looking forward

A lot can happen between college sports seasons. Smith knows that more than anyone after having to reload large portions of his roster over the last five seasons despite the Cougars' success on the court.

WSU went to back-to-back National Invitation Tournaments the previous two seasons but still had key players exit for pro careers or the transfer portal.

WSU will also be playing in a different conference next season. With the ongoing collapse of the Pac-12, WSU will play basketball and most other sports in the West Coast Conference for at least the next two years, while football next season will play a Mountain West Conference schedule.

But regardless of who stays, who goes or can no longer return (Isaac Jones is among the players without eligibility remaining), or where they play, the Cougars have shown they're likely here to stay.

And this Cougar team showed that poor preseason expectations and offseason distractions aren't obstacles too big to overcome.

"I'm just proud of these guys," said Jakimovski, the team's leader. "At the beginning of the year, nobody believed in us. It was just us and the Pullman community. So we just proved a lot of people wrong this year.

"Obviously, it wasn't enough to get the win today, but I'm just super proud and just thankful for this amazing experience."

Wiebe may be contacted at (208) 848-2260, swiebe@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @StephanSports.