Originally published Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 12:00 AM

WSU Men's Basketball | Taylor Rochestie's key three saves Cougars in OT

Washington State's Taylor Rochestie was having a terrible night, missing field goals and key free throws in front of family who flew up...

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

The Associated Press

PREV of NEXT

DEAN HARE / AP

Washington State guard Taylor Rochestie rises for a shot over Arizona State's Derek Glasser in the first half.

PULLMAN — Washington State's Taylor Rochestie was having a terrible night, missing field goals and key free throws in front of family who flew up from California for Senior Day.

That all changed when his long three-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in overtime lifted Washington State to a 51-49 upset of No. 14 Arizona State on Saturday.

"I made my first and my last shots of the game," said Rochestie, who was 2 for 11 and finished with just nine points in a game featuring two of the nation's top defensive teams.

His teammates had no reservations about the senior point guard's shot.

"The shot went up and I started walking back because I saw it was good," said WSU center Aron Baynes. "We want the ball in Taylor's hands at the end of the game."

Washington State (16-13, 8-9 Pac-10) got the ball with 12 seconds left on a rebound, and Rochestie drove up the floor. He dribbled into a tangle of players at the top of the key, took a few steps back and launched the game-winner from some 27 feet out.

"When I shot that last shot, I said, 'This has to go in, this has to,' " Rochestie said.

Ty Abbott's 40-footer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and Arizona State (21-7, 10-6), which was coming off an overtime loss at Washington, suffered a season sweep at the hands of both Pac-10 teams in this state.

"I haven't felt like this since high school," said Arizona State's Jeff Pendergraph, calling it his toughest college loss.

The Cougars finish the regular season at No. 21 Washington this week, and likely need to win the Pacific-10 tournament to make a third consecutive NCAA trip. But they appear to be peaking at the right time, beating UCLA and Arizona the previous two games.

Arizona State's James Harden struggled all game, but made three free throws with 2.4 seconds left to tie the score at 43 and send the game into overtime.

More Cougars headlines...

Print Share: Digg Newsvine