Three days later, all of that went for naught in WSU’s 109-79 loss to Santa Clara, which rode a white-hot first half to the finish line, cruising to a blowout win over the Cougars, who have now lost three straight games and eight of their last nine.

After a lopsided loss earlier this week, Washington State coach David Riley considered all manner of factors that could remedy the issues that plagued his team. The Cougars needed to improve on the rebounding front,