Originally published Friday, February 29, 2008 at 12:00 AM

WSU Men's Basketball | Balanced Cougars cruise to victory

Taylor Rochestie scored 18 points, Kyle Weaver added 17, and defensive-minded No. 22 Washington State showed off its offensive skills as...

By The Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. — Taylor Rochestie scored 18 points, Kyle Weaver added 17, and defensive-minded No. 22 Washington State showed off its offensive skills as well in a 70-49 victory over California on Thursday night.

The Cougars (22-6, 10-6 Pac-10) shot 54 percent, going 8 for 17 on three-pointers to win for the fifth time in six games with one of their best offensive performances in conference play this season.

Everything came easy for Washington State against the Golden Bears (15-11, 6-9). The Cougars even scored on a rare alley-oop pass from Rochestie to Robbie Cowgill to take a 64-46 lead with less than seven minutes to go.

The Cougars' defense also shone as usual in a matchup between the conference's highest-scoring and stingiest teams. Cal played from behind after missing seven of its first eight shots. The Bears never found their touch from long distance, missing 16 of 18 three-pointers.

The Bears shot 37 percent overall and finished 28 points below their conference leading scoring average of 77.8 points per game.

Instead it was the Cougars who had the outside shot working. Derrick Low hit consecutive threes midway through the second half to give Washington State a 53-38 lead. Rochestie added his fourth three a few minutes later, and the Cougars coasted to the win.

Low finished with 15 points and Aron Baynes added 10 before fouling out for the Cougars.

Ryan Anderson scored 17 points to lead Cal, but shot just 5 for 15. The Cougars did an outstanding job shutting down the Bears' second-leading scorer, Patrick Christopher, who had two points on 1-for-6 shooting.

By losing for the fourth time in five games, the Bears probably need to win the Pac-10 tournament next month to have any shot at making the NCAA tournament. Cal fell to 2-6 at home in conference play.

Summary



WASHINGTON ST.
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Weaver	36	7-13	2-2	0-2	4	0	17
Cowgill	27	3-4	2-2	0-4	1	3	8
Baynes	18	4-4	2-5	2-8	0	5	10
Low	37	6-14	0-0	0-4	2	1	15
Rochestie	37	6-9	2-2	1-5	6	1	18
Koprivica	18	0-4	2-2	0-1	3	2	2
Abercrombie	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Cross	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Henry	8	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Forrest	17	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	5	0
	200	26-49	10-13	3-25	17	17	70

Percentages: FG .531, FT .769. Three-point goals: 8-18, .444 (Rochestie 4-5, Low 3-7, Weaver 1-2, Cowgill 0-1, Koprivica 0-3). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 2 (Abercrombie, Weaver). Turnovers: 10 (Weaver 4, Cowgill 2, Baynes 2, Forrest, Cross). Steals: 8 (Rochestie 2, Henry, Koprivica, Cowgill, Baynes, Low, Weaver). Technical fouls: None.



CALIFORNIA
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Vierneisel	29	2-7	3-3	2-3	2	2	7
Anderson	35	5-15	6-7	2-6	1	1	17
Hardin	31	2-2	0-1	1-10	0	2	4
Randle	32	3-9	0-2	1-2	2	1	7
Christopher	22	1-6	0-0	1-3	0	2	2
Robinson	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Boykin	17	3-4	0-0	2-3	3	1	6
Knezevic	13	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	2	0
Liss	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Wilkes	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Kamp	12	2-4	2-2	0-3	0	2	6
	200	18-49	11-15	11-34	8	13	49

Percentages: FG .367, FT .733. Three-point goals: 2-18, .111 (Randle 1-4, Anderson 1-5, Kamp 0-1, Boykin 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Knezevic 0-1, Christopher 0-2, Vierneisel 0-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Anderson, Hardin). Turnovers: 16 (Christopher 5, Randle 3, Boykin 2, Hardin 2, Knezevic 2, Vierneisel, Kamp). Steals: 3 (Vierneisel, Randle, Hardin). Technical fouls: None.