The Washington State Cougars concluded the 2025-26 regular season with yet another road loss. Tonight it came against the team who will head into the WCC tournament as the 11th seed, the Pepperdine Waves. The Cougars struggled to get anything going offensively and surrendered a heap of offensive rebounds to a team that is among the worst in the country in offensive rebound percentage. It all culminated in a deflating 88-79 loss.
The effort never really seemed there all game long. They were slow to
transition on defense, they weren’t chasing loose balls with much hustle, and they allowed the Waves to dominate the glass. In just the first half alone, Pepperdine (9-22 overall, 4-14 in conference) hauled in 13 offensive rebounds (50% of their misses), five by Stefan Cicic alone. WSU (12-19, 7-11) didn’t help themselves offensively. As a team that heavily relies on sharpshooting, they hit only 39.4% of their shots from the field and 40% of shots from beyond the arc. They were also again careless with the basketball, totaling X turnovers.
WSU’s slow shooting start wasn’t too much of a concern, as the Waves aren’t elite enough of a team to punish any slow starts. The Cougars made only two of their first 13 shots and only trailed by four. But when WSU finally started to see some shots fall, it wasn’t nearly enough volume to make up for the opportunities they were giving Pepperdine. The extra possessions Pepperdine was able to get from turnovers and offensive rebounds allowed them to create some early separation. building a lead up to 12. The Cougars would fight back with a 9-0 run to get within three, but the Waves countered with a 7-2 run to close the half and take an eight-point lead into the locker room.
Typically, the Cougars have been a tale of two halves on the road. While they hardly ever ended in wins, you could count on one 20-minute half of hard-fought basketball. They didn’t do that in the second half. True to their name, the Waves rolled right over the Cougars in the second half, getting a lead as high as 20. The Cougars offered some resistance at times in the second half but never got closer than seven points in the final seconds.
WSU entered this weekend with hopes of a four seed, an automatic berth to the WCC quarterfinals. Instead, they fell all the way to the seven seed. A full two rounds below where they had hoped to get by tonight. They’ll begin play on Friday in the second round against the winner of San Diego and Pepperdine.
