Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

Columnists


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Print

Bud Withers

Men's Basketball | Hot-shooting Cougars triumph

Maybe it was more symbolic than consequential, but this whole Washington State basketball phenomenon was encased in a three-second snapshot...

Seattle Times colleges reporter

Related

EUGENE, Ore. — Maybe it was more symbolic than consequential, but this whole Washington State basketball phenomenon was encased in a three-second snapshot in the last half-minute here at McArthur Court.

Ahead by six Saturday, the Cougars were trying to drain away the last of the clock when Kyle Weaver threw an ill-advised home run pass toward Robbie Cowgill, breaking free on a run-out.

"He called me 'Eli,' " Weaver would say later with a snicker.

Unlike Eli Manning, the Super Bowl hero, Weaver overthrew Cowgill, who lunged past the end line and chucked the ball back ... to whom?

To guard Taylor Rochestie, who had decided it was more important to be savior than spectator. He bolted into frontcourt on Weaver's heave and was perfectly positioned to accept Cowgill's toss, and to finish the game with the last of his seven free throws in the final 73 seconds.

Washington State 62, Oregon 53.

"For all the hard work and banging around the 'bigs' did tonight," said Rochestie, "it was the least I could do to help."

This was one of those signal victories: WSU's first at McArthur Court since 1995, when the program began sliding somewhere beyond oblivion in the first year after Kelvin Sampson left.

It was WSU's 20th triumph against five losses, giving the Cougars back-to-back 20-victory seasons for the first time since 1942, or two years before the Allied troops stormed Omaha Beach.

If you can't wrap your arms around that, consider that coach Tony Bennett's dad, Dick, who laid the footings for all this, wasn't even born then.

"I guess I hadn't thought about that," said Tony Bennett, who was more than willing to look at the big picture. "It's a good group of guys; they've bought in, they've believed. It hasn't always been pretty. I just feel so thankful to have done that. I know where it started, all the stuff that's gone into this.

"I was there when that crowd we had at Oregon State [a quiet 5,321 watched the Cougars at Gill Coliseum Thursday night], we would have been rejoicing for at home. We would have been excited about that.

advertising

"We had 2,000 people when nobody cared, and it was hard. We were ugly. We couldn't play. We just tried to stay true."

True they were against the Ducks, heeding Bennett's warning at practice Friday: "If we give them uncontested three-point shots, we have no chance!"

The Cougars rotated so well defending the three-happy Ducks that only forward Maarty Leunen hit a deep ball against them.

As Rochestie's play exemplified, it was a team sort of thing. Derrick Low bombed in 11 points in the game's first six minutes and guarded at the other end. Rochestie had three treys in the second half. Weaver, playing on a bum shin, assisted Aron Baynes for consecutive baskets down the stretch, when Baynes had seven straight WSU points just as the Ducks had cut a 12-point deficit to one.

With 2:43 left, Weaver hit Baynes down low to start a three-point play for a 52-47 lead. He found him again on the next possession to maintain the five-point edge, and at the Oregon end, Cowgill blocked the 5-foot-6 Porter, the ball bounced off Porter's head out of bounds, and the Cougars were 73 seconds from a rare celebration in this building.

WSU thumped the Ducks on the boards, 31-20, and hit five more threes. The Ducks haven't made fewer than four from distance since their Pac-10 opener at Arizona State.

At least temporarily, the Cougars, at 8-5, have a pretty solid hold on third place in the Pac-10, while a loss that sank Oregon to 6-7 might prove to be a dagger for the Ducks and their bid for the NCAAs.

"That's a veteran basketball team," said Hairston. "As soon as you make a mistake, they're right back on you. That's how we should play."

Weaver, one of the architects of this two-year bender, was asked what he would have thought of the suggestion he might help WSU have back-to-back 20-win seasons. He answered with what might be described as a deep nasal guffaw.

Rochestie was more eloquent, putting a bow on the night and two years.

"Tony sold me on a dream," he said. "That's why I'm here right now. I'm living a dream."

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

WASHINGTON ST. 62
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Weaver 31 3-7 1-2 1-7 4 3 7
Cowgill 32 0-5 1-2 5-9 1 2 1
Baynes 34 5-7 2-3 1-5 1 3 12
Low 32 5-14 2-2 0-1 2 0 16
Rochestie 34 5-11 7-8 0-2 2 4 21
Koprivica 14 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 3 2
Harmeling 15 1-5 0-0 2-2 0 0 3
Forrest 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
200 20-50 13-17 11-31 10 16 62
Percentages: FG .400, FT .765. Three-point goals: 9-20, .450 (Rochestie 4-8, Low 4-8, Harmeling 1-2, Weaver 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 3 (Baynes 2, Cowgill). Turnovers: 8 (Weaver 4, Rochestie 3, Koprivica). Steals: 5 (Baynes 2, Koprivica, Weaver, Harmeling). Technical fouls: None.
OREGON 53
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Hairston 31 3-6 0-0 1-6 2 3 6
Catron 35 3-4 2-4 0-2 3 2 8
Leunen 37 7-10 2-2 0-6 1 3 20
Taylor 29 2-6 2-2 0-0 3 3 6
Porter 24 1-9 2-2 0-0 1 2 4
Platt 8 2-2 2-3 0-1 0 1 6
Odia 12 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 0
Longmire 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Viney 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Brown 16 1-1 1-1 0-1 2 1 3
200 19-39 11-14 2-20 12 16 53
Percentages: FG .487, FT .786. Three-point goals: 4-17, .235 (Leunen 4-7, Odia 0-1, Hairston 0-1, Catron 0-1, Taylor 0-3, Porter 0-4). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Catron 2, Leunen). Turnovers: 12 (Catron 3, Taylor 2, Porter 2, Brown 2, Platt, Hairston, Odia). Steals: 3 (Leunen 2, Brown). Technical fouls: None.
Washington St. 30 32 62
Oregon 24 29 53

Attendance: 9,087. Officials: Mike Scyphers, Rick Batsell, Chris Rastatter.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More Bud Withers headlines...

Print      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

About Bud Withers
Bud Withers gives his take on college sports, with the latest from the Huskies, Cougs, and the rest of the Pac-10.
bwithers@seattletimes.com | 206-464-8281

Bud Withers: WSU star Klay Thompson shows serious lack of judgment, leadership

Bud Withers: NCAA tournament might be the Jimmer Fredette show

Bud Withers: Might be a slim one, but WSU, Cal, USC all have shot at NCAA tournament

Advertising

Video

Marketplace

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 

Most viewed imagesMore

Advertising