On Tuesday night, Washington State basketball took the spotlight when they took the floor in the NIT semifinal in Madison Square Garden. They came up a little short in their quest to bring home the victory, but they weren’t alone in their disappointment Tuesday.

Hot on the heels of a 1-8 start to Pac-12 play, WSU made the trip to Provo looking to turn things around in their non-conference schedule against BYU. Unfortunately for the Cougars in the crimson and gray, the Cougars in blue and white pulled out in front early and never looked back in a 9-3 win for BYU.

Transfer junior Cam Liss got the start for WSU and, after a quick first inning, ran into trouble in the second. Liss walked three straight batters in the frame before he got the hook. He would later be charged with all three of those runs after an RBI ground out and two-run double capped off a 3-run second for BYU.

BYU followed up that big second inning, with an even bigger third inning. They took advantage of 3 hits, an error, an HBP and dropped third strike to push across 5 runs in the third frame, extending their lead to 8-0. From there, BYU never looked back.

WSU would push a run across in the 7th inning thanks to an Elijah Hainline RBI single. They would score two more in 9th, but it was too little, too late for the visitors in the 9-3 loss.

The defeat extends WSU’s skid to 8 in a row and marks their 12th loss in their last 14 tries. Unfortunately for skipper Brian Green and the Cougs, things don’t get much easier from here. They’ll return home for three against Utah before four straight on the road against top-25 teams in Gonzaga and Arizona.

The Utah series starts Friday night at 3 p.m. in Pullman.

WSU Drops Nonconference Matchup at BYU - Washington State University Athletics
WSU will host Utah for a weekend series at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Links

'They didn't miss': Texas A&M rolls past Washington State and into NIT final | The Spokesman-Review
NEW YORK – The Texas A&M Aggies didn't shy from expressing their displeasure with the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which snubbed the surging team when it revealed its 68-team March Madness field about two weeks ago.

WSU Drops Nonconference Matchup at BYU - Washington State University Athletics
WSU will host Utah for a weekend series at Bailey-Brayton Field.

Pac-12 Conference announces plans for flexible remote work environment | Pac-12
Pac-12 to forego permanent headquarters to best support employees and deliver savings to member universities; production facility location to be determined for continued broadcast production activities