Washington State's DaVonte Lacy Proves That He Can Dominate In Career Night Against Cal Bears

When you are on your game, you’re on your game. Washington State Cougars guard DaVonte Lacy was just that against the Cal Bears — on fire.

He had a career-high eight 3-pointers halfway through the second half, going 8-of-14 in the process. He was putting on a huge show in front of an unusually weak home crowd at WSU. He finished with 35 points, going 10-of-19 from the floor and 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

The Cal Bears’ defensive game plan was an odd one as they switched off-ball screens, leaving Lacy wide open from the wing and hitting most of his open looks. This proved to be the name of the game for the Bears, as leaving the Cougars wide-open looks can be devastating for your defense.

Not only was Lacy on fire, but the Cougars shot nearly 50 percent from behind the arc as a team. WSU struggles to create off the ball, and Cal realized that too late. It was a little bit of living and dying by the 3-point jump shot for Wazzu, but it helped them force overtime against a decent Cal team.

Certainly, the Cougs used Lacy as a catalyst from behind the arc. They broke their own in-conference record by making 16 3-pointers, shattering the old record of 13. Lacy is the only way that the Cougars can win a game in the conference; he usually averages 18 points per game, but this performance proved that he can take over a game not only offensively, but defensively as well.

The junior from Tacoma, Washington is the best player on his team and showed it tonight. Had they won, it would have been right there along with the win over the Washington Huskies two weeks ago as far as big games. The Cougars are one of the worst teams in the Pac-12, having just two wins going into this game. Coach Ken Bone coached his best game of the year, but it was not enough for the Cougars as they lost 80-76 in overtime.

John Lloyd is a Pac-12 Basketball Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHLloydIII