Washington State Falls To San Francisco in WCC Quarterfinal

March 9, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington State Cougars guard Nate Calmese (8) dribbles the basketball against the San Francisco Dons during the first half in the quarterfinal of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Washington State were eliminated from the men's West Coast Conference Tournament on Sunday night as the Cougs fell for the second time this season to the San Francisco Dons. San Francisco pushed past WSU by a final score of 86-75 in Las Vegas.

Ethan Price led WSU in scoring with 26 points, with LeJuan Watts posting 20 right behind him. Nate Calmese also posted his first career double-double with 16 assists and 11 rebounds.

San Francisco's Ryan Beasley led all scorers with with 29 points, including four made three pointers on the evening.

While WSU had their moments of competitive basketball in this contest: it largely came down to two factors: rebounding and free throws. The Cougs shot just 11-of-20 from the stripe. On the glass, WSU had only five offensive rebounds all game, while losing the total rebounding battle 25 to 49.

"Just really grateful that I got to have a year one with with these amazing 14 players that I got to coach at a great school," Riley noted after the loss. "That's the main thing I just want to be able to reiterate is how grateful I am to coach these guys, and this game was tough, you know. You look at our team, I thought we we really fought, at some points we just kind of ran out of gas."

The Cougars fall to 19-14 on the year as Riley's first season in Pullman comes to a close.

San Francisco move on to face Gonzaga on Monday evening in one of the tournament's semifinal matchups.

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