One of the biggest challenges for WSU this season has been taking care of the basketball. Through 14 games, the Cougars have given the ball away on nearly 1 out of every 5 possessions, ranking 247th nationally in turnover percentage.
Last night against UCLA, WSU turned the ball over on just 1 in every 6.5 possessions. It's not a coincidence that the Cougars scored a whopping 1.18 points per possession in the game -- their second best mark of the season -- in the 85-78 upset victory over the No. 25 Bruins.
My friend and former colleague at Basketball Prospectus, John Gasaway, loves to extol the virtues of limiting turnovers, which really ought to be self evident; if you simply take a shot, three things can happen and two of them are positive*, but if you turn the ball over, nothing positive can happen.