PULLMAN – Oregon scored 20 points off 17 Washington State turnovers and even as the Cougars returned closer to full-strength Wednesday night, the self-inflicted wounds that hurt them last week in the Bay Area were too much to overcome on the Palouse in a 72-61 loss to the Ducks at Beasley Coliseum.
Robert Franks scored a team-high 16 points for WSU and made all eight of his free throw attempts, but the Pac-12’s top scorer shot just 3-of-13 from the field and was responsible for four Cougar turnovers.
CJ Elleby added 10 points and broke Steve Puidokas’ freshman scoring record, but the rookie guard was also turnover prone, giving the ball away four times to an Oregon team that, similar to Cal on Saturday, seemed to capitalize on WSU’s every miscue.