Originally published Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
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...
Seattle Times staff reporter
Tonight
WSU @ Arizona, 5:30 p.m., FSN
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.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Oregon State rolls past Cougars, 42-10
Bundle up: 2010 Apple Cup will be played in December in Pullman
Women's College Hoops | WSU loses at Kansas State
WSU seniors prepare for final home game

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Jerry Brewer | Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Husky Football Blog | Ranking the Pac
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
408 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
215 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
106 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
98 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
77 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research
- UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
- Children in home day care watching hours of TV, study says
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit





