Finally, we’ve — mercifully? — come to the end of the WSU men’s basketball season after the Cougars lost to Portland in the second round of the WCC tournament.

The season’s end always comes with mixed emotions for me, no matter how awful the campaign has been. I sympathize with those who simply want it over with, but for me, being a fan means keeping up hope and, of course, getting to watch the folks who represent the school I love so much — even when it makes me feel the big feelings.

Yes, I’m exhausted from watching David Riley’s teams consistently underperform. I’m angry that the program that just two seasons ago was contending for a Pac-12 title and winning an NCAA tournament game can’t even manage a .500 record in either of its two seasons in the freaking WCC.

But it also means the end of being communally exhausted and angry about games with the folks on our Slack and with all of you. And that always bums me out, because, while obviously there will be other things to talk about, it will be another eight months before I get to sit down with a beer to watch a WSU men’s basketball game, hope renewed.

WSU deserves better than what Riley is giving us. Here’s to hoping President Betsy Cantwell and interim AD John Haarlow — who I believe were both in attendance in Las Vegas — found the end of the season embarrassing enough to make a change.

No Cougs win, no highlights, per usual. So, here’s Riley once again trying to explain how they lost to a terrible team:

With about 13 minutes to go in the game, Portland completed a 7-0 spurt that turned a one-point WSU lead into a six-point deficit. I simply typed this into our game thread on Slack: “We’re done. It’s over.” Because how many times have we seen the same script this year, where WSU loses a second-half lead and then simply can’t fight back to take control once again?

And that’s exactly what happened. Yes, they did keep trying, to some degree — Portland’s lead ranged between one and six for the next six minutes as the teams traded blows. But eventually, as they always do, the Cougars lost their will to compete, and Portland — PORTLAND — ran away with it, eventually pushing the lead to 11 with 88 seconds to play following a 16-6 run that ended any hope WSU had of winning.

At least they didn’t blow a big lead this time? Whatever.

One of the few bright spots this season has been getting to watch Ace Glass don the crimson and gray. He was one of only a couple of players — Rihards Vavers also comes to mind, though Vavers struggled mightily to make shots — who came to play against the Pilots.

There’s no reason to think he’ll be back next year, given the current economics of college basketball. Rather than be mad about that inevitable outcome, I decided some time ago to just enjoy watching Ace (and players like him) compete, if only for a year. Putting together a freshman campaign that was as good as any we’ve seen — and that includes Klay Thompson — was a lot of fun. We’ll talk about that performance at the Maui Invitational for years and years, and that’s cool.

Do I wish it was different? Sure. Do I wish he’d never come because it’s only for a year? Not at all.

It’s hard sometimes to contextualize what an enormous disappointment this year was. But losing 20 games while playing in the WCC — including three straight losses to sub-150 kenpom teams to end the year¹ — should be a big enough red flag to force WSU’s hand.

Yes, it’s only Riley’s second year at WSU. But he’s been a coach for five years, and nothing has really changed since he was at Eastern. He’s not a new coach! The offenses are good, the defenses stink, and his teams underperform in the end:²

He’s a veteran now. And when you watch his teams fail in the same ways over and over and over in his fifth season — with different groups of players — the rational thing to do is conclude that nothing is going to change going forward.

Craig and I talked on the podcast about which team might play longer in the WCC tournament, and wouldn’t you know it … it’s Kamie Ethridge’s squad! They advanced to the third round of their tournament with a win over Pacific yesterday.

The Cougs are now on a four-game win streak, and while the easy narrative is that they get a chance to avenge the men with their own game against Portland today, I don’t like that framing. Rather, they’ve got a chance to avenge their own losses to Portland over the last two years, as the Cougs have gone 0-4.

They came close the last time out, losing by just seven at home to the Pilots a few weeks ago in a game that was close until late in the third quarter. But the Cougs are playing with renewed confidence — and, quite simply, improved execution — giving hope that the Cougs can turn this into another magical tournament run under Kamie.

Today’s game is at noon PT on ESPN+.

GFC.

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