WSU Vs. Stanford: Faisal Aden Shines As Cougs Come Back To Win, 81-69

Tonight, we salute you Faisal Aden.

There wasn't a whole lot different to the way Aden played tonight. He took the same dizzying array of off-balance and closely guarded shots. Made a number of questionable drives. It was the same bad process, but the results were much, much better. Aden finished with 33 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor and an impressive 13-13 from the free throw line. Before tonight, Aden has shot 27 free throws all year. He was making drives to the basket, often wildly, and Stanford was fouling. He made them pay.

This game looked to be similar to the Colorado game, in which WSU fell behind big at the start of the second half after a flurry of three-pointers. At one point WSU was down 46-34, and most fans were ready to shut the laptop screen.

But they made their run. First, it was fueled by Brock Motum. Motum was moving well without the ball and was the recipient of some excellent passes from his teammates as WSU stormed back to tie the game at 51. Brock finished with 16 points on 6-10 shooting, with most of his offensive production during the Cougar comeback.

DaVonte Lacy and Reggie Moore hit back-to-back threes to put WSU up 61-55 and that was a lead they would never relinquish. With two minutes left, head coach Johnny Dawkins got desperate and ordered his players to foul Marcus Capers when he received the ball. Capers threw up a figurative middle finger to Dawkins, knocking down 3/4 on consecutive possessions. As a team, WSU shot 27-29 from the line.

The analysis of the heavier stats will come tomorrow, but one more important number: Ken Bone slipped and fell on the court 100% less times than he did in the previous game. The secret to success? Obviously.

Kudos to the student section. They were fantastic.

GO. FREAKING. COUGS.