Free throw failure extends Cougs' losing streak to five games

Washington State’s losing streak reached five games Saturday night because the Cougars failed to make free throws.

On a chilly late January night in Pullman when WSU outplayed Colorado in stretches, outshot the Buffaloes by nearly 10 percent from the floor (49.1 percent-39.3), outscored them in the paint (40-30) and committed just 10 turnovers, the charity stripe proved calamitous for the Cougars as they connected on just 16-of-27 free throws (59.3 percent) compared to 22-of-26 by Colorado (84.6 pct).

The result? A 75-70 loss in front of 3,321 fans that dropped Washington State to 9-10 overall, 1-6 in the Pac-12. The Cougars have lost eight of 10 games since a 78-73 victory over Texas State on Dec. 13.

“That was the second game (this season) we have played extremely well in all areas and let the game get away from us because we couldn’t step to the free throw and make a couple of free throws with no pressure on you,” WSU coach Ernie Kent said afterwards.

Washington State was 5-of-12 from the free throw line in the first half.

“We focus on it every day, we talk about it every day, so I don’t have any answers for it,” Kent said. “We may have to find a new free throw shooting coach from Joe Public out there somewhere.

“It’s unfortunate because it was a great game with tremendous energy in the building. We played extremely hard. But they made their free throws and we missed some of ours. And some of those were front ends of 1-1s.”

Colorado 6-foot-10 senior Josh Scott made the defensive play of the game, pressuring Washington State guard Ike Iroegbu into tossing up an air ball on a 3-point attempt that would have tied the game at 73-73 in the final seconds.

George King grabbed the rebound and sank two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to wrap up the road victory for Colorado, which improved to 4-3 in the Pac-12.

"I've just got to make the shot," Iroegbu said. "I missed it."

Iroegbu led the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting percentage entering Saturday's play, but he went just 1 for 4 from long range as the Cougars managed a lowly two 3-pointers in 12 attempts (16.7 pct).

Iroegbu scored most of his 27 points - one off his career high - with aggressive drives to the basket. Scott said the Buffaloes were not surprised Iroegbu regularly attacked inside.

“He played with great energy,” Kent said. “For us to only have 10 turnovers in a game with that kind of speed, I’m proud of Ike.”

Iroegbu made 12-of-20 shots. Conor Clifford was close to perfect from the floor, making 8-of-9 shots and finishing with 18 points coming off the bench. Josh Hawkinson collected 12 points (3-9 FGA) and 10 rebounds for another double-double.

“Josh probably needed more shots,” Kent said. “We had to get him the ball more and didn’t do enough things there. At the same time, Ike had a big game for us and himself. We could have gotten the ball even more to Conor too. But we were unable to find him and locate him. How you can’t locate somebody that is 7-feet, 260 pounds in that small key, I’ll never know.

“I’m proud of Conor because he played against one of the premier big men in the conference and did more than just hold his own. For a guy who is in just his first year in this conference, I’m impressed with what he did tonight. He is a lot more nimble in the half-court than people think. He’s quick, he’s strong, he’s smart, he’s crafty. He knows how to play inside. It’s just a matter of giving him touches in the right spot.”

King led the Buffaloes with 22 points, 13 in the first half when Scott sat out the final 10 minutes with two fouls and two points. Scott, Colorado's leading scorer and rebounder, wound up with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Cougars trailed most of the way after Colorado held WSU scoreless for nearly seven minutes during a 20-2 Buffaloes run in the opening 10 minutes of the first half. Washington State briefly led by one point midway through the second half and pulled within one with 21 seconds left on Josh Hawkinson's 16-foot jumper.

Hawkinson, WSU's leading scorer and rebounder, added three blocked shots. However, Colorado did a good job clamping down on WSU’s leading scorer and he typically found little room to maneuver on offense.

Clifford tied his season highs of 18 points and five rebounds for WSU. He sank all his field goal attempts until missing his ninth and final shot.

WSU coach Ernie Kent, disappointed in his team's play Thursday against Utah, said the Cougars delivered "a great effort" against Colorado.

“We had an opportunity to close out a game and for a team to grow like it needs to, you need to capitalize on those opportunities,” Kent said. “Otherwise, you’re expending a lot of energy, a lot of emotion and a lot of teaching and coaching to come up empty handed. That tends to wear on you at times. We’re right there in two games where all we had to do was make free throws to close a game out.”

TIP-INS: Kent turned 61 Friday, so various birthday greetings from WSU players aired on the Beasley Coliseum video screen prior to the game.

LINEUP SHUFFLING: WSU made three changes to the starting lineup. Junior Longrus replaced Conor Clifford at center, Brett Boese started for wing Que Johnson and Ny Redding took over for point guard Charles Callison. Clifford, Johnson and Callison outscored their replacements 28-3. Kent cited the defensive communication skills of Boese, Redding and Longrus for their insertion into the starting lineup.

UP NEXT: Washington State visits USC Thursday in the first of a two-game weekend trip to Los Angeles.

LAST FIVE RESULTS:

Jan. 9 vs. Washington, L 99-95 (OT)

Jan. 14 at Arizona State, L 84-73

Jan. 16 at Arizona, L 90-66

Jan. 21 vs. Utah, L 92-71

Jan. 23 vs. Colorado, L 75-70

NEXT FIVE GAMES:

Jan. 28 at USC, 7:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Jan. 30 at UCLA, 4 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 3 vs. Arizona, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 6 vs. Arizona State, 3:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 11 at Colorado, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

(All Times Pacific)

* Pac-12 Game

PAC-12 SCORES/SCHEDULE (Jan. 23-24)

Colorado 75, Washington State 70

Oregon 86, UCLA 72

California 74, Arizona 73

Stanford 75, Arizona State 73

USC at Oregon State, Noon (Pac-12 Network)(Sunday)

Utah at Washington, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)(Sunday)

(WSU Athletic Communications and AP contributed to this story)