Following an inspiring season-opening victory, the Washington State Cougars came back down to earth a little bit, suffering their first loss of the season at the hands of the Santa Clara Broncos, 70-62.
The Cougars fell to 1-1 overall.
This was always going to be a tough matchup for WSU — the Broncos are an experienced bunch that should make some noise in the WCC, plus it was on the road — but the Cougs held their own in the first half, thanks to some solid 3-point shooting and excellent offensive rebounding.
WSU was able to use the same kind of early offense it had used against Seattle to try and make up for a lack of execution in the halfcourt, and it largely worked; the game was set to be tied heading into the break, but a defensive breakdown led to a Santa Clara 3-pointer just before the buzzer, and WSU trailed 41-38 after the first half.