PULLMAN – There were varying degrees of familiarity for Washington State’s basketball team Saturday afternoon in a home finale against Oregon State.
There was the pure scoring of a senior forward who’s done it better than anybody else in the Pac-12 Conference this season, and did it better Saturday than he ever has in a WSU uniform.
And on the opposite end of the familiarity spectrum, the shaky defense and sloppy ball movement that have been staples of each of the last four losses and certainly did the Cougars no favors in a fifth.
A vintage scoring effort from Robert Franks, who was marvelous on his Senior Day scoring 37 points on eight 3-pointers, couldn’t rescue the Cougars from another lackluster Pac-12 performance and the Beavers pulled away late for an 85-77 victory at Beasley Coliseum.