PULLMAN — Washington State’s Ny Redding lost his starting position at guard prior to Saturday’s game against Stanford.
But Redding, a freshman, sank two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to lift the Cougars to an 89-88 win over the Cardinal.
“Ny Redding showed tremendous character,” coach Ernie Kent said. “He came off the bench with energy. He handled the situation well.
“Typically someone would have pouted in that situation,” Kent said.
After Washington State lost four league games in a row, Kent decided to shake up the team and replaced Redding with Que Johnson, who scored 14 points.
“Que responded in a big-time way,” Kent said.
Chasson Randle scored 33 points in a losing cause for Stanford (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12), which saw its two-game winning streak snapped.
“We need to play better for 40 minutes,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins, who saw his team squander a big first half lead.
DaVonte Lacy scored 25 points for Washington State (10-11, 4-5). Four other players scored in double figures for the Cougars.
“There are great guards in this conference, and Lacy is near the top of that list,” Dawkins said.
Stanford shot just 42.9 percent in the second half to allow the Cougars to maintain the one-point lead they had at halftime. Washington State shot 60 percent in the second half and 55 percent for the game.
The teams combined for 76 free throws in a foul-plagued game.
Josh Hawkinson added 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cougars, while Ike Iroegbu and Johnson also scored 14 each. Jordan Railey had 10 points and three blocks.
Randle, the leading scorer in the Pac-12, made 8 of 18 from the field, but 13 of 14 from the free throw line. He added nine rebounds.
“They had too many easy looks,” Randle said.
Two free throws by Hawkinson and a long jumper by Lacy gave WSU a 78-70 lead with 3:32 left.
Stanford’s Rosco Allen hit a 3-pointer and Anthony Brown sank a pair of free throws to cut WSU’s lead to 84-83 with 46 seconds left.
Lacy hit one of two free throws for a two-point lead with 36 seconds left.
Allen missed from close range and Iroegbu of WSU was fouled on the rebound. He made both free throws for an 87-83 WSU lead with 18 seconds left.
Randle missed on a drive, but Stanford got the ball back on a jump ball. Stefan Nastic scored to cut WSU’s lead to 87-85.
Redding was fouled on the inbounds play and sank both free throws for an 89-85 lead with 5.5 seconds left.
Dorian Pickens hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.
“Stanford forced us to grow up,” Kent said. “We had to come up to their potential.”
Kent also pleaded for more fans to come to games, noting the crowd of just 3,073 was able to provide crucial energy to his team.
“We fed off the energy in that building,” Kent said.
In the first, Stanford made three 3-point baskets in jumping to a 17-5 lead.
Robert Cartwright’s 3-pointer, fifth in six attempts for Stanford, pushed the Cardinal lead to 27-14.
Stanford cooled off and Washington State went on a 17-3 run, with seven points by Johnson, to take a 37-36 lead on Lacy’s 3-pointer. The Cardinal were held without a field goal for more than five minutes.
Washington State led 42-41 at halftime, behind 12 points by Johnson.
TIP INS
Stanford: Stanford leads the all-time series 74-60 … Stanford came in shooting 41 percent from 3-point range, best in the league … Chasson Randle leads the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.2 points per game.
Washington State: Coach Ernie Kent is 7-21 against Stanford in his career … Washington State has already exceeded its number of league wins from last year … DaVonte Lacy leads Washington State with an average of 17 points per game … Josh Hawkinson leads the Pac-12 with 10.8 rebounds per game, and scores 15.2 ppg … Former Cougar Klay Thompson recently became just the second WSU product named to the NBA All-Star team, joining James Donaldson in 1988.
NEXT UP
Stanford hosts UCLA on Thursday.
Washington State plays at Oregon State on Thursday.
