PULLMAN, Wash. - BJ Standley provided 21 points off the bench and Luke Chavez added 16 points as the Saints faced off against Washington State in an 85-74 exhibition loss on Sunday.
The Saints started the game off with an explosive 12-2 run in the opening two minutes. Buckets from Chavez, Jordan Kitchen along with a 3-pointer by EJ Boyce provided the Saints the early offense.
Over the next four minutes, the Cougars cut the score to 17-16 before three free throws and a layup for Standley extended the lead 22-16. 3-pointers by Kitchen and Standley along with a bucket in the paint by Standley sparked an 8-0 run by SMU to take a 30-18 lead with 9:03 left in the half.
Both teams traded baskets in following minutes, with the Saints taking their largest lead of the game, 39-26, at the 3:29 mark. The Cougars closed out the half on a 13-5 run; however, key baskets from Michael Painter and Chavez ensured a 44-41 Saints lead at halftime.
Washington State opened up the second half by scoring seven of the first eight points to take their first lead of the game at 48-46 with 16:42 left in the game.
The Saints' offense went nearly nine minutes without a field goal until Chavez drilled a 3-pointer at the 8:51 mark with WSU leading 66-54. Jared Mathews, Boyce, Standley and Caden Smith all scored to help cut the lead to 77-66 with 3:31 left in the game.
After two Cougars' free throws, Matt Dahlen converted two free throw attempts and Tavian Henderson connected on a layup to bring the Saints to within 75-70 at 2:13 left.
Washington State held off the Saints' second half comeback attempt, scoring 10 of the last 14 points as the Cougars won 85-74.
"We got exactly what we hoped for from these exhibition games," said head coach
Alex Pribble. "We saw our strengths and we saw our weaknesses, and now we have to focus on the process of improvement. We talked about starting fast, and we did a great job of that. But credit Washington State, they made things tough on us in the second half and we weren't able to rel on our defense to get stops.
BJ Standley led the team with 21 points off the bench on 7-for-12 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line. Luke Chavez followed up his 32-point performance at Washington with 16 points and six assists. Jordan Kitchen reached 10 points while Tavian Henderson and Rhett Baerlocher combined for 16 rebounds. A total of 10 Saints recorded at least three points in the game.
"We got great contributions from all three freshman tonight, as well and a spark from Jared Mathews," Pribble said. "We're going to need everyone to step up at different times throughout the year, and at this point, we have shown some good depth."
Overall, the Saints shot 26-for-68 (38.2 percent) from the floor and 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) beyond the arc. The Saints converted 14-of-20 (70.0 percent) attempts at the free throw line. The Saints recorded 11 assists and 15 turnovers with 36 rebounds, 9 steals and 1 block.
"I'm really looking forward to digging into this film and seeing exactly where we need to improve," said Pribble. "It's clear that our defense needs to be more consistent, as well as our rebounding effort. With that in mind, this team has a very high ceiling and we're excited for the future."
The Saints travel to Monmouth, Oregon to compete in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge to open up the 2017-18 regular season. SMU's first game is scheduled for Nov. 10 against Fresno Pacific at 5:00 p.m.
