UW Huskies drop sixth straight as CJ Elleby leads Washington State to 79-67 win
Stop CJ Elleby. That was the game plan.
In theory, it was simple. Of course slowing Elleby was at the top of Washington’s list. He’s the third-leading scorer in the Pac-12, and a player who scored a then-career high 26 points in the Cougars’ loss at UW last season.
Elleby set a new mark on Sunday, leading Washington State (14-10, 5-6 Pac-12) to a 79-67 victory over the Huskies by scoring 34 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, including 6-of-9 from the three-point line. As Elleby willed the Cougars to a win, UW (12-12, 2-9) was reminded — once again — that plans are only plans. They mean nothing without execution.
“When you’re playing in a game like this against a great player like CJ, you got to make sure you know where he is at all times and hopefully it’s the worst night of his life,” said UW head coach Mike Hopkins. “And he had the best night of his life.”
Hopkins wasn’t exaggerating. Elleby also went 10-of-10 from the foul line in scoring 43 percent of Washington State’s points. He had a game-high 10 rebounds, too.
UW freshman Jaden McDaniels is familiar with Elleby, a former star at Cleveland High School in Seattle. He’s known Elleby since seventh grade, when the two started playing in three-on-three tournaments.
Asked about Elleby afterward, McDaniels, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds, could only smile as he stood against a wall outside the visitor’s locker room at Beasley Coliseum. Elleby didn’t surprise any of the Huskies, least of all McDaniels.
“He can score anywhere and that’s what he does,” McDaniels said. “You just can’t let him get going. He had a good night tonight. We just have to do better stopping him, but he’s a great player, too.”
It was Elleby’s first victory over his hometown team, and the first win for the Cougars in the series since Feb. 26, 2017. Afterward, Elleby was asked about his emotions when facing UW. He took the opportunity to speak not just for himself, but Noah Williams. Williams, who had 10 points and six rebounds, is also from Seattle and attended O’Dea High School.
“UW was always one of those schools growing up that we wanted to go to,” Elleby told reporters, “but we made our way to this side of the state and couldn’t be more happy being here.”
For the Huskies, it was another loss in a dismal stretch. UW has now lost six straight games and is 1-8 since losing point guard Quade Green to academic ineligibility.
UW had a week off before the match-up with Washington State. The Huskies talked of resetting, of renewing their energy, of returning to the floor with a new mindset. But by the time they left the court — heads hanging after yet another defeat — it was clear not much had changed.
The scoring droughts were still there. So were the turnovers (17) and the missed free throws (10-of-17) and the rebounding deficit (44-33). A defense that once looked strong even when the Huskies were struggling has suddenly allowed an average of 79.3 points over the past four games. All four opponents have scored more than 75 points.
None of this was news to the Huskies. Hopkins knows what’s going wrong. McDaniels does, too. But there’s a big difference between knowing and performing. For UW, the gap seems to be growing. Elleby was the evidence.
“I just told the guys in (the locker room), until we execute the game plan, this is going to be the result,” Hopkins said. “That’s something we can control. More awareness, more practice, more reps. Bottom line, that was the key and (Elleby) had his best game.”
Said McDaniels: “Like coach just tells you, you got to be locked in or things are just going to slip up. Like how CJ had all those threes. We wasn’t locked in and that’s why he did what he did.”
Washington State led 38-33 at halftime, but the Huskies opened the second half on a 5-0 spurt that tied the score with 19:20 remaining. The teams traded the lead seven times over the next four minutes. With 15:07 left, freshman Marcus Tsohonis — he finished with 13 points in his second career start — went 1-for-2 at the foul line to pull UW within one point, 46-45.
That’s when Elleby took over. After scoring 18 points in the first half, Elleby single-handedly put together a 7-0 run for the Cougars. He hit a three-pointer, two free throws and a layup in transition to give Washington State a 53-45 advantage with 12:34 left and force Hopkins to call a timeout.
UW responded with a jumper from Nahziah Carter, who led the Huskies with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and a three from Tsohonis to pull back within three points. But the Cougars answered with another 7-0 stretch — highlighted by a three from Elleby — that pushed the advantage back to 60-50 with 9:37 left.
The Huskies got within four points twice late in the second half, but struggled all afternoon to find reliable scoring. They didn’t hit a field goal from the 8:52 mark until McDaniels was fouled on a made three-pointer with 2:28 left. After the ensuing free throw, Washington’s State’s lead was down to 67-63.
Jeff Pollard hit two free throws for the Cougars before Carter made a layup to get UW back within four points, 69-65, with 2:07 remaining. Elleby immediately hit a layup before combing with Isaac Bonton to go 4-for-4 at the free throw line. That pushed the advantage back to 10 with just 47 seconds left.
Washington State went 10-for-10 at the line in the final 2:18. In that same stretch, UW shot 2-for-6 from the field with a turnover.
“(Washington State plays) solid, man-to-man defense,” Hopkins said. “They stay in front of you. They force you to make mistakes. They scouted our plays pretty well. We just got to be better. Sometimes, the ball stops a little bit. We need the ball to keep moving. We just got to get better, bottom line.”
That might be the bottom line, but with just seven games left in the regular season, Hopkins and UW are still looking for results.
“I think the biggest thing is just sticking to the process,” Hopkins said. “It’s about the kids. We just got to keep getting better. I thought we were in a good spirit. I thought we played hard tonight. We just didn’t execute the game plan.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2020 at 5:19 PM.
