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WSU ecstatic about beating USC

Posted by Vince Grippi

Jan. 22, 2010 9 a.m. • 9 comments

COUGARS

We don’t want to waste your time, so let’s get right to it. By shooting 56 percent in the second half, including its last eight shots, WSU was able to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit and get past USC last night in LA. As you could expect, this made the Cougar pretty happy. The locker room was pretty loud. Even Klay Thompson showed some emotion, smiling and pumping a fist after his 15-footer gave WSU a 64-58 lead with about a minute left. We have more, so read on.

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• Washington State: Late games push the boundaries of our print deadlines. So, with about 15 minutes left in the game, I started to write my story. Kiss of death. The five or six paragraphs I wrote had to be deleted, replaced by a story focusing on a comeback I really never saw coming (the unedited version was available last night). Except I sort of did. This is what I wrote in the pregame post: “I asked Bone about that at Tuesday’s press conference, about the ability most O’Neill groups have to take away their opposition’s strength. He agreed that’s something they can do at times. But he was also interested, he said, to see what USC thought WSU’s strength really was. Most teams, of course, figure it’s Klay Thompson and his 22.9 scoring average. I’m wondering if it’s Reggie Moore’s ability to get into the lane.” Last night it was Moore’s ability to get into the lane, and USC could do nothing to stop it. “We let up on the defensive end. The point guard for their team made some really big plays,” said Moore’s most consistent victim, Mike Gerrity. … Freelancer Howie Stalwick had this piece in the Kitsap Sun and other papers. … The story in the LA Times focused on Moore, while the Daily News piece has more on Thompson. … A look behind the stats: USC shot 37.3 percent from the game, but they hit 41.9 in the first half. WSU started off playing man and doubling the post. That led to a couple early turnovers but eventually to a handful of easy baskets. Then WSU switched to a 2-3 zone, but USC just outraced it down the court or hit the offensive glass (eight first-half offensive rebounds). It was straight man in the second half, which helped WSU to a 20-14 rebound edge. … USC center Nikola Vucevic had 10 rebounds, but was 0 for 7 from the floor and had two key turnovers down the stretch. … DeAngelo Casto had just four points but eight rebounds. …. WSU played seven guys more than 13 minutes and Charlie Enquist 7 more. USC played seven guys more than 13 minutes and Marcus Simmons 5 more. But after the game there was a lot of talk from the Cougars about their deep bench and how they wore down the Trojans, who aren’t as deep. Interesting. … Marcus Johnson and Alex Stephenson overpowered WSU inside at times, combing for 24 points and 13 rebounds. … Dwight Lewis had a quiet 13 points. … Though Moore was impressive, he did have five turnovers, most early. … Now on to more comments from the participants. …

WSU coach Ken Bone when asked if the Cougars’ hallmark is they never quit: “That would be a good hallmark to have. … I appreciate the effort. There were a few times where we could have kind of fell apart because (USC) is a very good team and our guys are aware of how good they are. … Our coaching staff is very proud of what our guys were able to accomplish tonight.”

Bone on halftime: “That’s what we talked about, those two things (shoring up turnovers that led to fastbreak points and rebounding). We talked about the fact they had 10 points in transition and we had zero and the fact they had, I think, seven points on second-chance points and we had two. That’s a 15-point difference and we’re down five.”

Senior Nik Koprivica on Moore’s play: “I get surprised by Reggie every single game.”

Koprivica on USC’s size: “They’re big. They’re much bigger than me at the 4.”

Moore on finding Koprivica for the 3-pointer that gave WSU the lead for good: “I always find Nik. He’s always ready, he’s always clapping, I can just hear him clapping, I just look and he’s always wide open.”

USC coach Kevin O’Neill on the comeback: “When things got tough defensively in the second half, we broke down. When we gave them a little crack of daylight, they came through. … We just didn’t have a good second half. We had the game in hand and we just collapsed.”

More by O’Neill on Moore: “Moore lit us up and tore us apart. … One guy wrecked us. Put that on me. It was dribble-dribble over and over.”

O’Neill on the last stretch: “When it got tight, we kind of panicked offensively.”

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• Around the Pac-10: The Huskies fell at Pauley Pavilion when Mustafa Abdul-Hamid buried an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer for a 62-61 UCLA win. … Oregon State just gives up at Stanford and have already practiced today. The Cardinal see it as being relentless. … Oregon also got hammered by Cal, which shot like it did in Pullman. … ASU and its match-up zone takes on Arizona and freshman Derrick Williams on Saturday. … One more national story on the Pac-10.

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• That’s almost all for this morning. We have a couple of different WSU stories for you, including this one that mentions WSU recruit Patrick Simon extensively and this piece which mentions football center Kenny Alfred in a positive light in the last paragraph. We’ll be back as events warrant today. Until then …

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

MVTravis on January 22 at 9:19 a.m.
Casto didn’t have a big offensive night, but when you add the 5 block he had to the totals above it makes for a nice night by the soph. If he can show some more consistency night-to-night, look out. I’m sure his knee play a part in that consistency.
OlyCoug on January 22 at 9:56 a.m.
Someone mentioned “In Bone We Trust” in another post. Hmmm, maybe we have a new Coug motto? Sounds good so far.

But “In Moore We Trust” might turn out to be the more accurate one. The guy’s a freakin’ terror. We’re had some decent point guards in the past, but Moore might exceed them all.

Gotta like that. Turnovers were less than ideal in the first half but, seriously, it’s amazing how confident the Cougs (and the fans) are with the ball in that freshman’s hands.

BEAT UCLA!
OlyCoug on January 22 at 9:59 a.m.
P.S.: I expect someone in the stands at the next home game to start the “In Moore We Trust” theme. Someone just get a poster and DO IT!

I won’t be there next time, but later in the season I’ll make the trek.

Also, is the Palouse Posse always the place to go for Coug stuff on channelsurfing.net? I wish I’d remembered that option instead of suffering through the fading, static filled broadcast last night!
bradley010a on January 22 at 10:03 a.m.
First, you gotta love Reggie Moore’s confidence and competiveness. We need a guy like that to fire up the team. Plus, his comments about Nik “clapping all the time” are priceless.

Second, interesting comments in the LA Times from the NBA scout on Thompson. I agree with the scout simply for that fact that we need him back next to make a serious run in the NCAAs. Also, I do think he’d get eaten alive in the NBA without another year of physical development. There’s no hurry to sit on the bench in the NBA.
coug79 on January 22 at 12:14 p.m.
While Reggie shined last night it was not one of Casto’s better games. In the pregame warmup I thought he looked uncharacteristically tired and lethargic. But you have to give him credit. He kept pounding and fighting against a very big USC lineup.

Very interesting comments in the Daily News story attributed to the unnamed NBA scouts saying Klay is “not NBA ready” and being horrible on defense. That’s good news for Cougs who hope to see this team together for at least one more year and hopefully two.

Go Cougs! Beat UCLA.
mdrevniak on January 22 at 12:59 p.m.
Whether Casto was tired and lethargic, or his knee is hurting him more than we all know, it was pretty evident in his offensive play last night…especially on the dunk attempt when the rim rejected him! Hopefully he is being honest with the coaches/trainers about how he feels. Anyway, I do have to give him credit for his defense last night.

Also, I love the quote from Moore, “I always find Nik. He’s always ready, he’s always clapping, I can just hear him clapping, I just look and he’s always wide open.” In regards to the last sentence, I wonder how much longer that will happen. The Pac-10 has to start to realize he is a threat…I mean he is the league’s leading 3 pt shooter right now; just shooting lights out from downtown right now! Sometimes I do agree with some of the others that are saying we should start him rather than Abe, although I am sure Bone has a good reason. I figure it has to do with his explosiveness off the bench…would it be better to have that at the beginning of games, or would that somehow ruin the mojo Nik has right now?

OlyCoug - Last night was the first time that I used channelsurfing.net so not completely sure about how much is on there, but pretty sure that it is limited to specific games. I agree it wasn’t the best given the “DEFENSE” screen and the instant replays that they showed in the middle of our posessions, although overall I am not complaining because it allowed me to actually watch the game…and oh what a great game it was!

Vince - I hope things are getting better with your father.

GO COUGS!!!
philip38 on January 22 at 3:17 p.m.
Give DeAngelo Casto credit. I didn’t see this USC game, but read the play by play. What stuck out was Casto blocking four shots after the score reached 41-26, Trojans. That means while the Cougs were mounting their comeback for which Moore, Koprivica and Thompson are getting all the credit, it was Casto providing the interior defense down the stretch. He was expending energy fending off a monster opponent, North Carolina Tar Heel transfer Alex Stepheson, who, it seems to me, participated in that NCAA torunament beat-down the Tar Heels gave the Cougs a couple years ago. I don’t fault DeAngelo for blowing the dunk at all.
blotto on January 22 at 3:37 p.m.
Remember–- as young as the Cougs are, we’re still gonna suffer with some downs, BUT, the future looks promising. It’s interesting to see Koprivica blossom since Tony’s been gone. Appears to have the respect of the youngsters which is a testament to his character. Go Cougs–—
seattle_cougs on January 22 at 7:10 p.m.
I hear you guys on Casto but let’s realize he blocked 5 shots and played 31 minutes…not to mention 7-8 rebounds. He is without question our ONLY really good post player. We need him in there 30 minutes a game if his knee allows it. When he’s in there we are a MUCH better team…plain and simple. Without him we are bottom of the Pac-10. And not just because he put in “2” game winners so far this year. The possibility of every drive into the paint being blocked changes the entire game…big time.

Tomorrow will be interesting. Vegas has UCLA by 1.5 and it’s already moved to 1. That means they view us as the slightly better team playing in LA (i.e if it were in Pullman we would be 4-5 point favorites). That’s all out the window if we don’t bring it tomorrow. No more of this win the 1st and be satisfied like in AZ!