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The Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team split a weekend series against the Pac-12’s top two programs, beating UCLA on Thursday night before falling to USC on Saturday. The Cougs have won three of their last five conference matchups after a demoralizing stretch that accumulated six straight losses in through most of January.
After a brutal 30-point loss to the Bruins back on January 14, WSU came out hot with an 8-1 start and never looked back. Behind another career night from Isaac Bonton (26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and a coming out game by sophomore DJ Rodman (11 points, 3-5 from three), the Cougars led by as much as 23 late in the second half:
Fate was not so kind to the Cougars on Saturday, as hopes of a rare sweep of the LA schools fell short against the No. 20 Trojans by a score of 76-65. While WSU led for less than two minutes in the contest, the young squad played the Pac-12’s highest ranked — and first place — team tight up until the final buzzer, which has to please head coach Kyle Smith:
There will not be any time to mull over Saturday’s loss, as in-state rival Washington travels to Pullman for a Monday evening matchup tonight at 5pm on the Pac-12 Networks. With senior leader Isaac Bonton likely out due to an injury, the challenge of maintaining Smith’s perfect record against UW has become all the more difficult.
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