WSU throws a shutout in the final minutes

COUGARS, 65-61

When Washington’s Justin Dentmon drove the baseline with 23 seconds left and the Huskies trailing WSU 62-61 I figured he would either score or a whistle would blow.

And he would walk to the line. After all, the Huskies had walked there enough for 21 foul shots – as opposed to 11 for the Cougs at that point.

The whistle did blow. But not until after Robbie Cowgill had blocked Dentmon’s shot and the ball had caromed off Dentmon and Jon Brockman’s hands out of bounds (Brockman shown trying to defend Taylor Rochestie; AP photo).

The Cougars would hold on to win – how about Derrick Low, who had two shots from the field in the second half but calmly hitting two key free throws with 16.7 seconds left? – thanks to a defense that pitched a shutout over the last 3:29 of the game.

You can read the game story here.

You can also leave a comment or two here or on Glenn Kasses’ blog.

The win is huge for the Cougs and their NCAA seed. They are now within percentage points of UCLA atop the Pac-10, and, with a good weekend in Oregon, will come back to Pullman two weeks from Thursday with a chance to win the conference title against the Bruins.

Who would have thunk it four months ago?