Cougs start 2nd half on 20-4 run, cruise past Beavers

PULLMAN — It was hardly Krzyzewskiville, but Daven Harmeling's eyes lit up Thursday when he saw Washington State students waiting outside the doors of Friel Court, waiting to invest some spare energy on the eighth-ranked basketball team in the nation.

"It's exciting just not to be catching flights," said Harmeling, enjoying WSU's 69-46 shutdown of Oregon State.

Mostly, the Cougars have just been catching hell, playing on the road, doing what WSU has to do. Until the Cougars hosted Oregon State, they had played in their building a mere four times this season — against Eastern Washington, Idaho, Portland State and North Carolina A&T. Nobody there to re-stoke the memory of WSU's jaw-dropping, 26-win season of last year.

In fact, of the 73 BCS-conference teams, only Connecticut and WSU had played as few as four home games as of Thursday night, and UConn, twice an NCAA champion in recent years, had another four games at a long-established semi-home site in Hartford. Thirty-eight of those 73 programs had played 10 or more games at home.

So go ahead and giggle at WSU's nonleague schedule, which included Gonzaga, Baylor and Boise State as the main courses, but remember that the corollary to scheduling tough nowadays in college hoops is that you get a healthy dose of home games as well.

Not so in Pullman, where few teams want to risk icy roads and offensive confidence against the defensively testy Cougars.

"Some people have dinged us a little bit about our schedule," said WSU coach Tony Bennett. "It's hard, there's no perfect formula. We're just trying to make the best of it.

"Our schedule is probably tougher this year than last year."

But now those opponents can't hide. Oregon State — clearly the least capable of the nine incoming from the Pac-10 — arrived Thursday night, and the Cougars (15-1, 3-1), showed no ill effects from the schooling they received five days earlier at UCLA, as the Beavers (6-11, 0-5) tied their season-low points.

In contrast to two competitive games a year ago, this one was a waltz after the first TV timeout, when the Cougars splashed a 9-0 run on OSU, punctuated by a 17-foot fallaway jumper from Derrick Low for his 1,000th point.

It was 34-24 at the half, at which point the Cougars did what they usually do after intermission: get really busy. They pieced together a 20-4 run, burying four straight threes, two by Low.

They passed out of double-teams profitably, they shot the ball well, they held the offensively challenged Beavers to a .333 second half of shooting, and they owned the boards, 33-17.

Jay John, the OSU coach, lamented his own lack of a veteran, step-forward force and said, "With a situation like that, it's like the JVs against the varsity."

Identification of those roles wasn't necessary.

"Obviously, the home court helped, having a spring in your step," Bennett said, "but [WSU] attacked the game they way they need to in this kind of league."

Bennett, now 41-9 at WSU, has molded an unflappable group of players who let the game come to them. Admirable, but he also wants to see an early urgency.

Done. The Cougars listened to him, pretty much removing the possibility of an upset by the 21-point underdog Beavers almost from the outset. WSU didn't allow a basket by OSU senior forward Marcel Jones; rendered C.J. Giles a nonfactor (six points, four rebounds); and kept promising freshman Omari Johnson to two points.

OSU had a mere five assists to WSU's 18. Taylor Rochestie had nine, several of them to Aron Baynes for dunks.

"Just mentally, we weren't prepared," Giles said. Describing WSU, he said, "It was all threes and dunks, threes and dunks."

About the only discouraging word for WSU was Kyle Weaver's five turnovers on a night when he was battling a sore throat and cold.

"I don't know if he put Vicks VapoRub on his chest and forget to wipe his hands off or what," Bennett said.

Weaver will have an extra day to get healthy for the Sunday-evening arrival of Oregon, a team that has beaten the Cougars 13 consecutive times.

"I want to beat Oregon so bad," Low said.

In this place, no chance that'll be a minority opinion.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com

OREGON ST. 46
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Jones	20	0-4	2-2	1-1	1	0	2
Johnson	23	1-2	0-0	1-1	0	0	2
Giles	23	3-7	0-0	1-4	0	1	6
JTarver	26	4-5	0-0	0-1	1	1	10
STarver	32	4-8	2-4	1-4	2	2	12
Hampton	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Schaftenaar	18	1-2	0-0	0-1	0	2	2
Claitt	18	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	3	2
Haynes	15	1-5	0-0	0-1	1	1	3
Carter	11	0-2	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Wallace	9	2-4	2-2	1-3	0	0	7
	200	17-41	6-8	5-17	5	10	46

Percentages: FG .415, FT .750. Three-point goals: 6-15, .400 (J.Tarver 2-2, S.Tarver 2-5, Wallace 1-2, Haynes 1-2, Schaftenaar 0-1, Jones 0-3). Team rebounds: 0. Blocked shots: 2 (Schaftenaar, Giles). Turnovers: 15 (S.Tarver 3, Jones 2, Johnson 2, Giles 2, Schaftenaar 2, Haynes 2, J.Tarver). Steals: 8 (J.Tarver 4, Haynes 2, Johnson, Jones). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON ST. 69
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cowgill	29	2-6	0-0	2-7	0	1	4
Baynes	25	6-8	5-6	2-2	2	0	17
Low	28	6-9	0-0	0-0	2	1	15
Rochestie	33	4-8	0-0	0-3	9	0	9
Weaver	26	3-5	0-0	2-4	4	2	7
Koprivica	15	2-5	1-2	0-2	1	2	6
Abercrombie	4	1-2	0-0	1-2	0	1	3
Cross	2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Harmeling	18	2-2	0-0	0-2	0	1	6
Henry	1	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	0	0
Forrest	19	1-6	0-0	3-6	0	0	2
	200	27-52	6-8	13-33	18	8	69

Percentages: FG .519, FT .750. Three-point goals: 9-18, .500 (Low 3-6, Harmeling 2-2, Abercrombie 1-2, Koprivica 1-2, Rochestie 1-3, Weaver 1-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2 (Abercrombie, Baynes). Turnovers: 13 (Weaver 5, Forrest 3, Rochestie 2, Henry, Harmeling, Cowgill). Steals: 9 (Weaver 4, Rochestie 2, Low, Baynes, Harmeling). Technical fouls: None.

Oregon St.	24	22	—	46
Washington St.	34	35	—	69

Attendance: 10,117. Officials: Verne Harris, Michael Reed, Randy McCall.