WSU Men | Cougars enjoy enviable position

Three years ago, Washington State entered Arizona's McKale Center a dubious, downtrodden basketball team in Dick Bennett's second season. Twenty-seven points by Thomas Kelati later, WSU had a 70-63 upset, breaking a confounding 38-game losing streak to the Wildcats.

Just about nobody would have envisioned where the teams are tonight entering another game at McKale: The Cougars are 16-1, sixth-ranked and thought by some capable of rousting UCLA out of another Pac-10 championship. Arizona (12-6, 2-3 Pac-10) is, by most measures, more desperate than the Cougars for a victory.

Tony Bennett, successor to his father as WSU coach, has doggedly co-opted the underdog's role for his team, but he may be hard-pressed to maintain it against Arizona.

"We're going on the road, and a road game in the Pac-10, you've got to fight like crazy," Bennett said this week, before catching himself and adding, "You've got to fight like crazy at home.

"Our mentality is more: We have to be ready to play and take nothing for granted."

Starting with that monumental upset in 2005, the Cougars have won three of the last six against Arizona, including a sweep last year. Even a .500 record represents a startling uptick for the formerly feckless Cougars against a program that has been to more consecutive NCAA tournaments (23) than any other.

Arizona presents a three-pronged attack, led by freshman guard Jerryd Bayless (19.2 points a game), complemented by forward Chase Budinger and center Jordan Hill. Bayless had an off game at Stanford last week, and in a quirky sidelight, said he couldn't get comfortable in a new pair of shoes he was wearing. He said this week he regretted mentioning it and creating a possible distraction for teammates.

Bennett, meanwhile, hopes for no repeat of a recurring trend that struck the Cougars again Sunday in their 69-60 victory over Oregon. They started slowly, falling behind by 11 points, much as they began poorly at Washington and UCLA, and in nonleague games at Baylor and Boise State.

"I guess you'd say it's not just a coincidence," said Bennett. "If you're not right, they'll make you pay. A lot of that goes to how good the other teams are."

But WSU is hopeful of continued good things from guard Derrick Low. Starting with a belated, 24-point second-half flurry at UCLA, Low is 24 of 38 in his last three games for 66 points.