Unfamiliar foe for WSU
COUGARS
The last weekend of Pac-10 play is always interesting in one regard. Though the conference is one of the few major ones that still plays a double round-robin, the way the Pac-10 works the schedule (you play weekends against 1-2-3-4-5 then 2-3-4-5-1) schools go a couple months between games with their first weekend opponents. In fact, as Ken Bone pointed out this week, the Cougars last played Oregon in 2009. We have some more thoughts about the schedule and tonight's opponent, the Oregon State Beavers, on the link, so read on.
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• I know those of you who live outside the reach of the Cougar radio network feel cheated when the game isn't on television. But really, isn't that an opportunity to pay closer attention to my work? OK, that's a shameless plug, but in this day and age of newspaper cutbacks, the more hits we can get tonight on the blog and tomorrow when we file our day-after report, the better. You don't want old Vinnie (with emphasis on the old) to disappear, do you? Or maybe you do. Either way, I'm here for tonight. And so are the Oregon State Beavers. Though maybe not the Beavers you remember from Jan. 2, when WSU handled them 65-60 in Pullman. ... In that game two freshmen – starter Jared Cunningham, a 6-foot-3 guard, and Joe Burton, a 6-7, 295-pound (yes, 295) post – played 2 and 11 minutes, respectively. Now they both are key contributors for an OSU team that is 4-3 in the Pac-10's second half. ... Burton has pulled down 19 rebounds and scored 35 points in the last four games, playing at least 21 minutes in each. (If you're wondering, his minutes have come at the expense of Daniel Deane, a starter last year who played 38 minutes in Pullman, a total he hasn't reached in the last nine games combined). Burton is a load, a guy DeAngelo Casto is not looking forward to throwing his 231 pounds at. But there is a tradeoff. If WSU has the ball, look for Casto and James Watson to do their level best to beat Burton down the court so they can attack a smaller player in transition. ... Cunningham played a season-low 2 minutes in Pullman and did not score. But he was showing enough in practice that coach Craig Robinson moved him into the starting lineup six games later, and Cunningham has stayed there. Not a huge scorer (he's averaging 4.9 per game with a high of 18 in his first start at Cal), he's helped solidify the ballhandling, taking pressure off Calvin Haynes and Josh Tarver. ... Both of the changes have helped the defense, especially with Cunningham. The Beavers are playing defense well (they are third in the conference in shooting percentage defense) and controlling the pace of games (since the 99-48 blowout by Seattle following the weekend in Washington, OSU hasn't given up more than 65 points in a game). ... The pace thing shouldn't be that big a problem for WSU. The Cougars have morphed into a team that, while they want to run, seem OK with taking their time and running one of Bone's multiple sets. However, they are much better in the halfcourt when Klay Thompson is shooting well, and that hasn't been the case often in Pac-10 play – he's only shot better than 50 percent in two games, Stanford and at Cal. For the conference season, Thompson is 34.8 percent from the floor and 27.4 from beyond the arc. Against OSU the first time, Thompson only had six shots before fouling out, scoring a then-season low seven points. Another seven-point performance tonight might spell doom for WSU. ... The one question I have is whether Abe Lodwick will start tonight. He did against USC and had a hand in the win. Nik Koprivica returned to the lineup on Senior Night and Lodwick didn't perform as well. We'll see, but I'm guessing Koprivica will start because he's a bit better ballhandler.
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• That's all for now. We'll be back at halftime with our report (trying to paint word pictures for those of you without television coverage – wait, that's everyone). Until then ...
