SEATTLE — The Huskies knew DaVonte Lacy was going to be able to score against them; they just weren’t going to let the rest of the Washington State roster follow suit.
Washington State shot just 31 percent from the field and Washington held them without a field goal for the final 13:03 of the game in cruising to a 72-49 victory over the Cougars on Friday night.
“He’s a pretty good shooter,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said of Lacy. “…They depend on him so much and if he gets it going he can knock some down. That’s really what ended up happening. We did not want those other guys to beat us.”
Lacy scored 25 points to lead the Cougars, but the Huskies (16-13, 8-8 Pac-12) kept the rest of the lineup in check. Lacy was the only player to reach double-figures for Washington State.
“We just, plain and simple, did not hit shots,” Lacy said. “We had some wide open looks, especially in the second half and we just didn’t hit shots.”
Washington never trailed as they controlled the game from the opening tip.
Nigel Williams-Goss had 17 points and 12 rebounds with four assists and no turnovers to lead Washington. Andrew Andrews added 16 points and nine rebounds.
“We’re not having one guy show up now,” Romar said. “Multiple guys are showing up on the same night.”
Lacy was the only consistent scoring option for the Cougars (9-19, 2-14) in the first half. Lacy scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting while the rest of the roster shot just 5 of 16 before the break.
“We knew that DaVonte was their best player and when he kind of gets going the other will feed off him,” Andrews said. “DaVonte was going to take his shots so we were focused on really trying to limit the other players from getting going.”
After Lacy’s 3-pointer brought the Cougars within 53-44, Washington answered with a decisive 9-0 run to shut the door.
Williams-Goss picked off a lazy pass from D.J. Shelton and coasted for a breakaway dunk. After a Mike Anderson 3-pointer and layup from Perris Blackwell, Darin Johnson delivered a two-handed slam after a steal to give Washington a commanding 62-44 advantage.
The 3-pointer by Lacy was the last field goal the Cougars would convert in the game.
“We did not play confident at all down the stretch,” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “I will try to get these guys to believe that they’re better than they’re performed tonight and hopefully we can go into that homestretch, those last two games, and play better basketball.”
Andrews attacked the hoop and forced the action as the Huskies slowly extended their lead early. He caused Lacy to pick up his second foul with four minutes left in the half. Lacy remained in the game but had to play cautiously to avoid picking up a third foul before the break.
“It’s nice when you have a supporting cast making you look good,” Bone said. “And tonight (Lacy’s) supporting cast just wasn’t very productive.”
Lacy converted a breakaway layup in the first half to cut the Washington lead to nine, but Wilcox drilled a wide open 3-pointer to give the Huskies a 36-24 lead at the break.
Washington continued to maintain the cushion early in the second half despite the Cougars finding some offensive rhythm. Lacy made a 3-pointer to open the period. Royce Woolridge and Shelton followed with a pair of three-point plays to cut the lead to 40-33, but the Huskies countered every blow.
