2-0! Hooray!
Some quick notes before I go to bed:
- Faisal Aden is still awesome. He went 10-16 from the field and led the Cougs with 26 points. He scored in a variety of ways, hitting stand-still threes, rising off the bounce in the mid-range, and getting a few breakaway dunks off steals. Apparently he can windmill dunk, which is fantastic.
- Klay Thompson had 9 assists. Last season, he seemed to be a black hole at times. Hopefully these early season assist totals are an indication of his offensive maturity. He can still score, too, as he had 23 points.
- The Cougar defense was successful when they were forcing Idaho into turnovers. That is exactly the type of attacking style we expect from Bone.
- When the defense wasn't forcing turnovers, Idaho didn't have a whole lot of trouble scoring, posting an eFG% of 53.8.
- I hate Jeff Ledbetter and I'm glad we never have to see him again. 18 points on six threes. The guy is a microwave.
- Fouling was a problem for WSU. Idaho bested the Cougs in free throw rate. That, combined with the three point shooting, kept them in the game into the second half.
- The decisive Cougar run came during a four-minute stretch in the second half when Idaho was only able to get off one field goal attempt. Doesn't get much better than that.
- We have shooters this year. Along with Aden, freshman Patrick Simon was also able to knock down jumpers. He finished with his a 12 point effort. The first of what should be many double-digit game in his Cougar career.
- It sounded like Dre Winston was more comfortable out there today. On the offensive end he did post his first bucket as a Coug and dish out two assists. He still struggled on the defensive side, and racked up fouls because of it.
- Idaho beat the Cougs on the glass, posting a 77.8 DR% to WSU's 66.7. After a strong performance in the first game, it looks like rebounding is still an area of concern.
In the end, this sounded like it was a pretty exciting game for the fans who attended, complete with a lot of fast breaks, high-flying dunks, and long threes. Like last year, WSU jumped out to a big lead (17-2) but Idaho was able to shoot themselves back into the game, cutting the lead down to two early in the second half. Fortunately, WSU was able to pull away and secure the 88-71 victory.
Grady will be along shortly with the charts and to hand out awards.