SportsLink

Zags win 74-69

Posted by Vince

Dec. 2, 2009 8:11 p.m. • 23 comments

BULLDOGS, COUGARS

Gonzaga stormed back in the second half behind the play of senior Matt Bouldin and freshman Elias Harris to defeat Washington State 74-69 before 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. By overcoming a 15-point first-half lead, 17th-ranked GU (7-1) kept the Cougars (6-1) from becoming the first visiting team to win twice at McCarthey. Though it was Bouldin (28 points) and Harris (24) doing it on the offensive end, it was Steven Gray and Mangisto Arop who made the biggest difference, combining to hold Klay Thompson, the nation’s leading scorer at 28.3 points coming in, to 15 points on 6 of 21 shooting. More on the link, so read on.

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• Though this Washington State team has picked up the pace offensively, the Cougars stayed in the game thanks to their defense. But the Zags started picking it apart in the second half, with Bouldin hitting from the outside (he finished 7 of 12 from beyond the arc) and Harris inside. The freshman was especially active, attacking the offensive glass after halftime – the Zags trailed on the boards by 11 at halftime but finished with 35 as opposed to WSU’s 36. The Cougars still led, 56-43 with 12:07 left (on Thompson’s 15 footer) but with Arop and Gray shadowing Thompson’s every move, WSU couldn’t find scorers down the stretch. As the Zags went on a 17-5 run to tie it at 63, only Thompson was able to score, with WSU turning it over three consecutive times at one point. Bouldin scored 11 of the GU points in that stretch, but it was Harris who tied it, scoring on a post move with 3:44 left. He also put the Zags ahead 65-64 by slipping a screen and scoring on a dunk with 3:17 remaining after Reggie Moore hit one of two free throws. From there WSU didn’t score again until Thompson’s putback with less than 20 seconds left and the Zags had pulled away.

The Cougars took control in the first half with a 12-0 run started by two DeAngelo Casto free throws at the 11:57 mark and ending with Thompson’s 10-foot floater with 8:54 left before the half. Thompson’s basket, one of only three he had before intermission (he was 3 of 9 as Gray denied him the ball even on the weak side, denied cuts and play aggressively when Thompson got the ball), gave WSU a 26-12 lead. The Cougars led 39-27 at the half though the Zags got within 10 often, including 30-20 with 3:55 remaining. But Thompson hit a 12-foot fallaway and Abe Lodwick canned a corner 3 – his only first half hoop – and WSU led by 15. When Bouldin hit a 3 in transition with 45 seconds left, the lead was 10 again, but Casto followed a Thompson air-balled 3 and hustled down to contest Demetri Goodson’s shot at the other end as time ran out. The Cougars, despite GU’s height advantage, dominated the boards early on and held a 25-14 edge at halftime (WSU had 12 offensive rebounds) as Casto had seven. The Zags also shot just 34.8 percent against WSU’s combination of man – a majority of the time – and zone – as much as a Cougar team has played in a few years. If it wasn’t for Bouldin’s 14 points (including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc), WSU’s lead would have been even bigger. Eight Cougars scored, led by Casto and Xavier Thames, with eight.

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• That’s it for now. We’ll be back in the morning. Don’t forget to check for Jim Meehan’s story. Until then …

23 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

85coug on December 02 at 8:13 p.m.
What Coug hasn’t seen that game a 1000 times?
avboden on December 02 at 8:22 p.m.
coug’d it…..

meanwhile, every person but 1 in the box score scored for us!Klay is definately NOT our only threat.

that game in pullman, we win.
SpectreCoug on December 02 at 8:22 p.m.
No kidding, 85coug…both in football and basketball. I know they’re a young team, but they just unraveled.

On a different note…Zag fans, I am a Spokanite and went to GPrep. I root hard for the Zags every game but one. That said, you have to do something about the classless student section. I realize they’re just stupid college students, but chanting “Casto can’t read” is reprehensible. I expect more of a Christian institution. Maybe I shouldn’t.
bradley010a on December 02 at 8:26 p.m.
That sucks. They seemed to play way more conservatively in the second half. Missed free throws hurt too. But the positive is that this young Coug team knows it can (and should have) beat anybody.
elvis on December 02 at 8:40 p.m.
I have a lot of respect for Gonzaga and their program. And I suppose you can shout anything you want from the stands, but I expect more from the Zag fans. With Casto being from Spokane, the chant was tasteless. Your better than that Bulldogs!
MikeSequim on December 02 at 8:43 p.m.
Two very tough and well coached teams played their hearts out on the floor. Great game!
EllensburgCoug on December 02 at 8:55 p.m.
It stings. Just couldn’t hold on to it at the end.
I listened to Casto in the post game show with Bud Nameck. He handled the indignities of the Zag crowd with a great deal of class.
Good for him.
Go Cougs!
poulsbozagfan on December 02 at 9:09 p.m.
As a die hard ZAG fan, I tip my hat to the Cougs. I honestly thought WSU would pull off an upset, especially since Sacre played so poorly. But I give a lot of credit to Bouldin and Harris…down 14 and they faught back. At any other game, I root for WSU. Best of luck to both teams this season.
Go ZAGS!
Ken, Poulsbo
BrandonHansen on December 02 at 9:14 p.m.
I think the young Zags show they can weather a stretch of bad play (meaning a lot of good coaching and maturity) and I think the Cougs are for real this year. In a weak Pac-10 they should be a challenger.

Brandon Hansen
Just South of North
http://www.justsouthofnorth.com
Ned on December 02 at 10:06 p.m.
Good game Zags.

Cougs played great for about 30 minutes, but their youth showed at the end. It was nice to see the team do well when Klay was off - he seemed to press the issue at times and took some bad shots, but part of that was good D too. It will be fun to watch this young team progress this year and I hope they respond well and learn from this tough loss. KSU will be no cake walk.

Go Cougs!
Beiron on December 02 at 10:09 p.m.
A better day for Klay (3/7 from the line wth) and it may have ended differently. Sophmores and Freshmen in their first tough game. I’m not happy but I think it is probably a loss they can build for the next few games.

The fact that the scoring was so balanced bodes very well for the season.
jeffcoug85 on December 02 at 10:21 p.m.
Wow. What’s with the Zag students? They’re talking trash about Casto after four years of “Shroom” Heytfelt fathering nearly as many children as Shawn Kemp? Plan on some hostility at Beasley next year.
Tmac5360 on December 02 at 10:29 p.m.
What a game. The cougs are going to make some serious waves in the PAC. GU really battles and they are lead by a very good player in Bouldin. Bone is a great coach and he will have the cougs in the tourney I think. I’m glad it’s over cause now I can root for the cougs the rest of the season.
scottcoug on December 02 at 10:37 p.m.
A loss is probably better for a young team than a win at this point in the season. They know they can play with anyone, but there are some lessons to be learned here and it was a good experience playing in one of the most hostile environments in the nation.
coug79 on December 02 at 10:53 p.m.
Scottcoug—my thoughts exactly. Lots to learn for this young Coug team. They will be ready for K-State. Tip your hat to Bouldin and company.

Man, when did the Zag students become so classless? As a Coug, I always cheer for the Zags except against the Cougs….but wow, I’m thinking a little humility might be needed up there.
sdobbs20 on December 02 at 11:37 p.m.
coug’d it - i like that term!

as far as the fans chanting “casto can’t read” goes…

i spent a good amount of time around him, playing in various camps throughout highschool when he was at ferris and i was at mead. he truly had the intelligence of a 6th grader while he was 17 or 18. could barely put sentences together.

while yes, it is disrespectful to be chanting something like that, there’s no way to stop it. and yes, just because something is the truth doesn’t mean you need to say it.

nonetheless, glad to see him lose. i never liked him anyways.
DPort on December 02 at 11:48 p.m.
Casto has really grown up during his time at WSU. If you watch interviews of him, he is well spoken.

sdobbs20, if i had to guess, i would say you never liked him because he always beat you.

just a guess.

Both teams played a great game tonight and played with class.

Cant say that for the students attending. I think their actions speak for themselves when profanities and derogatory remarks are constantly being chanted.
wazzuwyatt on December 03 at 7:02 a.m.
I was ticked off by the bad behavior of the Bulldog fans. They acted like Ducks, tossing out so much negatives at the visiting team. Classless. Such misbehavior makes me sure hope OSU beats the heck out of UO today in Eugene.
Jeremy on December 03 at 8:06 a.m.
So what? The students section at GU did what most student sections do - try to get in the other team’s head. It seemed to work in the 2nd half. I’m not proud of what they were saying by any means, but come on Coug fans, you make me sick by pretending this doesn’t happen in Pullman.
primal23 on December 03 at 9:28 a.m.
What I find funny, is all the self-rightous coug fans who are on their high almighty throne. Like your student section hasn’t shouted anything inappropriate?

Does it make it ok, no but dont spout out this junk about how we cougs would never shout ugly mean things, only those lowly gu people would, they must be one step above cave trolls.

Get off your throne, realize that ALL students in ALL schools yell ugly ugly things at opposing players to try and get into their heads and take them out of the game. Do I agree with what was shouted? NO! But don’t try and think that when say I dunno, UW comes to pullman that your students wont shout some vile stuff to them. Get a life.
ThaiCoug on December 03 at 10:16 a.m.
Does anyone know why Capers took the free throws that Casto should have? Missing those 2 F/Ts started a cascade of misses and then the Cougs got sloppy. Why didn’t Bone put Capers on Bouldin and shadow him like they were doing to Klay?

Overall, I thought the Cougs looked a lot better than I expected. As some have said, there is a lot to learn from this loss and maybe even more than a win. Right now we need work, not reading the headlines.

One last thought, I was surprised X was taken out when he had the hot hand. By the time he came back in in the 2nd half he had cooled off.
DPort on December 03 at 11:37 a.m.
if a player is hurt and cant take his shots, the opposing coach can choose any player on the floor to take them instead. Few choose Capers.

I was surprised X was taken out as well. He was 3-3 from behind the arch.

I think this Cougar team will learn a lot from this loss. They had a poor showing against Nicholls State and then came out the next night and lit up San Diego.
TommyCoug on December 03 at 12:05 p.m.
ThaiCoug, Capers took the shots intended for Casto…because he went to the bench, injured or what …and was substituted for. A new rule this year, then permits in this case, for the opposing coach to choose a player on the floor to shoot those free throws…soooo, you choose the worst shooter out there.

Now, I understand what Casto was saying and meant in a different interview. I don’t like it…don’t know what the Cougs do in Pullman…but, I don’t believe that cost us the game…if it did we need to learn to not let that happen.

Let’s worry about Kansas State now…GO COUGS!!