The Washington State Cougars took a two-point lead with just under 8 minutes to play, but the Stanford Cardinal closed on a 22-5 to hand the Cougs their second loss of the season, 75-60, in Santa Cruz, California.
The Cougars (9-2 overall, 2-2 in the Pac-12) haven’t had trouble finishing games this year, but trying to score late against the Cardinal’s top 10 defense is a bit of a different animal — and it was a task made harder by the absence of Noah Williams, who left the game late in the first half with what appeared to be a lower back injury after a dirty foul by Stanford’s Spencer Jones, who undercut Williams on a soaring layup.