PULLMAN – Breaking habits is always hard, and so winning in front of a crowd in Beasley Coliseum for the first time since Jan. 3 was likely to take a little extra exertion, even in an exhibition game.
And the Cougars certainly did not look ready for the regular season for most of the game against their NAIA opponent. But WSU eventually pulled away from Carroll College and won 78-70, breaking a pattern of losing games played in the Western Hemisphere that has lasted for 10 months.
On the one hand, Carroll is picked to win the Frontier Conference and returns the bulk of its 2015 squad that made the NAIA quarterfinals.