Cougs lose to the Beavs on Senior Day, 85-77

The regular season for Washington State mercifully came to an end today, as the Cougs drop their fifth consecutive game, 85-77 to Oregon State on Senior Day. Tres Tinkle and Steven Thompson, Jr. both dropped 26 points for the Beavers and Robert Franks led all scorers with 37 points.

Marvin Cannon and Franks got off early threes and Davante Cooper found success inside to jump out to a quick lead, up 17-8 at the first media timeout. Franks continued his hot shooting, scoring his 17^th point nine minutes into the game.

Tinkle kept the Beavs in the game in the first half with 18 points of his own over the first twenty minutes. Franks led all scorers with 20 at the break, taking a 43-38 lead into the half.

Franks picked up his third foul in the opening minute of the 2^nd half, forcing him to lay off defensively. Around this time, the Cougar defense fell apart, allowing an 8-2 run and let OSU take their first lead of the game three minutes into the half. His fourth foul came with nine minutes remaining and the Beavs took over with him on the bench, getting out to a 69-57 lead.

The Cougs never recovered. They kept taking bad shots, kept turning the ball over, and allowed Oregon State any shot they wanted over the final ten minutes. Going into the final minute, WSU only shot 9 of 27 from the field in the 2^nd half, including 2 of 10 from three-point range. A valiant last-ditch effort from Franks with 9 points in the final minute kept things somewhat close, but the result was never in doubt.

At tipoff, Viont’e Daniels nursing injuries, “started” the game and left the court after one second, allowing for walk-off recognition for the Senior. Franks received several accidental sendoffs from the crowd, as his four fouls forced Ernie Kent to pull him for several defensive possessions in the final minute.

WSU finishes the regular season in 11^th place in the Pac-12. Their next (final?) game will be on Wednesday evening versus one of seven different teams still eligible for the 6-seed in the conference tournament in Las Vegas.

Thank you, Davante. Thank you, Robert. Thank you, Viont’e.