Cougars halt 13-game losing streak to Oregon

PULLMAN — Back in the mid-1980s, Dick Bennett moved on from Wisconsin-Stevens Point to Wisconsin-Green Bay, and he figured he needed to adjust his defensive thinking to allow for the better athletes he'd be facing.

He came up with the Pack, designed with the idea that a man-to-man defense ought to be good enough to pressure anybody with the ball on the perimeter, yet nimble enough to retreat and deny the lane.

Bennett probably never envisioned a team like Oregon, firing up threes with abandon (the three was unborn then), drawing the defense and wheeling the ball to quick, athletic shooters.

The old defensive guru bequeathed the system to his son Tony, now the second-year Washington State coach, who probably could have been forgiven Sunday for quietly cursing the Pack in the din of Friel Court. Oregon drove his team crazy, which, in keeping with a 13-game series winning streak coming in, pretty much goes without saying.

Somehow, the Cougars reached inside, assembled an 11-1 finishing run and outlasted the Ducks, 69-60, in a game that was testimony to their fortitude, not their athletic prowess.

"When we're down," said Kyle Weaver, one of the Cougars' key conspirators, "we're not out."

This was how dire it was for WSU, which entered with a 1-20 record against Oregon coach Ernie Kent: With less than seven minutes left, it had led the game for a grand total of 38 seconds. At the point when WSU finally wrestled away the lead for good with 61 seconds left, the Cougars had led for just 1:56.

"One of their greatest attributes is, they just play on," said Bennett, lauding his team.

WSU kept competing, kept sawing wood, and finally, Oregon broke. It happened for two reasons.

Guard Derrick Low, implored by Bennett to be more assertive offensively last week, complemented his three-point shooting with drives into the lane — scoring to tie the game with 4:01 left, hitting a free throw off penetration, threading a pass to Weaver for a baseline layup that finally got the Cougars the lead for good, 60-59.

"He made a big-league pass," Bennett said. "I take my hat off to Derrick."

Low added, "Oregon was chasing me pretty well. So I thought I had to counter by taking it hard to the lane. When the three-point shot is not falling, you've got to go to something else."

Not that Low's deep game was betraying him. He made 4 of 9 three-point attempts on the way to 27 points, giving him 64 in this building against the Ducks the past two seasons.

With the Cougars trailing 59-58, the Pack finally stood up. First, WSU caused a shot-clock violation by the Ducks.

"You couldn't hear the buzzer," Bennett said. "That's the loudest I've heard it in there."

After Weaver's basket gave WSU the lead, Malik Hairston misfired from 19 feet and Taylor Rochestie connected on two free throws, his first points of the game.

Robbie Cowgill, beaten by Bryce Taylor going to the basket, recovered to get just a sliver of Taylor's layup attempt, and another two foul shots by Rochestie made it 64-59 with 24 seconds left.

"We haven't beaten them in so many games," sighed Rochestie. "I was happy I could do something for my team."

There were all sorts of snapshots of the Cougars' desperation trying to deal with Oregon (12-6 overall, 3-3 Pac-10). Rochestie found himself matched up twice with WSU-killer Maarty Leunen (20 points, 13 rebounds) on the low block. Caleb Forrest, 6 feet 8 and not to be mistaken for Apolo Ohno afoot, was out on top, trying to guard the 5-6 Tajuan Porter. Aron Baynes, the 270-pound Aussie, was regularly beyond the arc, attempting to discourage Leunen from launching threes.

"Caleb had to run off the bench and throw up," Bennett said. "He was so exhausted. I don't think he's had to guard many 5-6 guys."

And Baynes? "We're not going to leave Aron in the lane and let Leunen play Horse," Bennett said. "The big boy played hard. I think he'll sleep well tonight."

In the bruising Pac-10 race, the Cougars (16-1, 4-1), who played poorly last week at UCLA, find themselves back in a tie for the top with the Bruins and Arizona State.

That left only one order of business for Bennett, who went to high school and college in Green Bay.

"Who won the football game?" he asked in the postgame interview.

He was told the New York Giants beat Green Bay. Alas, it was a day when only one Pack would emerge.

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

OREGON 60
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Leunen	37	6-11	5-6	4-13	2	2	20
Hairston	25	6-10	2-2	4-7	2	5	14
Taylor	27	2-5	2-2	1-2	2	3	7
Porter	39	4-13	0-0	0-1	2	1	11
Odia	34	0-3	0-0	0-4	0	3	0
Platt	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Dorsainvil	7	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	0
Longmire	11	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	2
Brown	17	2-4	2-3	0-3	0	3	6
	200	21-48	11-13	10-33	8	20	60

Percentages: FG .438, FT .846. Three-point goals: 7-20, .350 (Leunen 3-7, Porter 3-7, Taylor 1-2, Hairston 0-1, Odia 0-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 15 (Leunen 3, Hairston 3, Taylor 2, Dorsainvil 2, Brown, Porter, Odia). Steals: 4 (Longmire 2, Taylor, Leunen). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON ST. 69
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cowgill	22	3-6	1-1	2-3	0	3	7
Baynes	28	5-9	1-1	3-7	0	3	11
Low	39	10-16	3-5	0-1	2	1	27
Rochestie	35	0-5	4-4	0-1	4	2	4
Weaver	38	5-8	4-8	0-6	8	4	16
Koprivica	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Harmeling	25	2-5	0-0	0-3	1	1	4
Forrest	10	0-1	0-0	0-1	1	1	0
	200	25-50	13-19	6-23	16	15	69

Percentages: FG .500, FT .684. Three-point goals: 6-19, .316 (Low 4-9, Weaver 2-3, Harmeling 0-3, Rochestie 0-4). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 2 (Harmeling, Weaver). Turnovers: 7 (Weaver 2, Koprivica, Forrest, Cowgill, Baynes). Steals: 7 (Low 4, Cowgill, Baynes, Weaver). Technical fouls: None.

Oregon	34	26	—	60
Washington St.	30	39	—	69

Attendance: 11,120. Officials: David Hall, Dave Libbey, Chris Rastatter.