COUGARS

The Washington State men's basketball team is in Southern California, getting ready for the Pac-10 Tournament that starts with its game tomorrow night at 8 on FSN. The women will follow the same route in about 24 hours (the Pac-10 women's tourney starts a day later at the Galen Center). In advance of the men's game, we have our look at the Oregon game (seems like I typed those same words just the other day) on the link, so read on.
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• Here's our unedited story ...

LOS ANGELES – When Washington State and Oregon line up for the opening tip tonight at the Staples Center, less than 100 hours will have passed since UO senior guard Tajuan Porter bowed four times to the Mac Court crowd last Saturday night.

That so-long display came with just seconds left in the Ducks' 74-66 win over WSU, the last Pac-10 game scheduled for the venerable gym.

What did the victory earn Oregon, besides squaring its overall record at 15-15? The ability to wear white tonight, as the eighth seed in the conference tournament.

The Cougars (16-14 overall) will wear their road uniforms and the mantle of underdogs, after finishing last in the conference for the first time since 2006.

Two of their 12 conference defeats came courtesy of the Ducks, one on New Year's Eve in Pullman – a delay-of-game technical foul with .3 seconds left allowed Porter to tie a contest UO won in double overtime – and the most recent affair in Eugene.

The latest defeat actually gives WSU hope, albeit for a negative reason.

The Cougars clanked 36 shots off the Mac Court rims, shooting a tough-to-overcome 35.7 percent from the field. That percentage included 21 misses from beyond the arc, 10 of those coming from Klay Thompson.

"Last time, we had lots of open looks," said Reggie Moore, the freshman point guard who was 2 of 7 against Oregon and 13 of his last 51 (25.4 percent) over the Cougars final seven games.

"I think it works to our advantage to play them again real quickly," said DeAngelo Casto, one of the few Cougars whose offense improved in the second half of conference play. He's converted 47 of 85 shots and improved his shooting percentage from 46.8 to 55.3.

"But playing them so quick, we won't be so anxious," Casto added. "Playing them quickly, after just coming off a loss, maybe plays in our favor a little bit."

The Cougars have come off a lot of losses lately – nine in their last 11 games. Five of those defeats came down to the final few minutes, with WSU either unable to hold a big lead or overcome a large deficit despite getting close.

Thompson takes much of the blame on himself.

Though the sophomore was named to the All-Pac-10 first team this week, he's shot just 35.7 percent from the floor in conference, hitting 37 of his 126 3-pointers (29.4 percent). Last season he shot 42.1 percent for the year, 41.2 from beyond the arc. His scoring average of 25 points per game in non-conference play dropped to 16.1 against Pac-10 foes.

Asked if the close losses ate at him, Thompson answered, "ya, it does. There were so many games I thought we could have won and we didn't finish. The league was so even, it was anybody's league.

"It's frustrating because we beat some good teams, lost to some good teams too, but there were definitely some teams we should have beat."

Which goes back to putting the ball in the basket.

"We have not been very consistent" shooting, WSU coach Ken Bone said. "No doubt I feel like we are better than we've shown."

But so does tonight opposition. The Ducks have won three of their last four, picking up their game immediately following the reported dismissal, effective at the end of the season, of coach Ernie Kent.

Kent reportedly confirmed to his team Monday he's coaching his last games for OU. And he expects the Ducks to play better than they did last Saturday night.

"I thought (WSU) missed some shots," he said. "We gave them a lot of shots. It looked like our defense was really good, and it was at times, but there are some things we can do better.

"Offensively, we can play a lot better. We left points on the floor. We have to do a better job (tonight)."

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• We also did a short advance on the tourney itself, which we pass along as well ...

So who is the favorite here?

The California Golden Bears won the conference with a 13-5 mark (21-9 overall) but even Cal coach Mike Montgomery admits this year is like none other.

"There isn't anybody in this league," Montgomery said Tuesday, "that's invulnerable to anybody at any given time."

When you consider the last place team, Washington State, had the most conference wins (six) and most overall wins (16) of any last-place team in Pac-10 history, then it's obvious not much separates the nine teams playing for the automatic NCAA berth the next four days.

There are hot teams – Cal and third-seed Washington have won four consecutive games coming in, No. 4 Arizona three; second-seed ASU six of seven and eighth-seed Oregon three of four – and there are three matchups between teams that played last weekend.

The quarterfinals get under way Thursday, with UCLA (13-17) facing Arizona (16-14), Cal vs. the Oregon/WSU winner, ASU (22-9) playing Stanford (13-17) and Washington (21-9) against OSU (14-16).

"For us, it just depends on the matchup," said Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said of a quick turnaround, playing UW in a rematch of last Saturday's game. "It's helpful in preparation. The scout is fresh, the game plan is fresh."

ASU and Washington could meet in Friday's semifinals, in a game some call a virtual play-in for the NCAA Tournament. But Sun Devils coach Herb Sendek isn't buying it.

"We don't know with any absolute certainty where teams are headed," the Pac-10's coach of the year said.

Maybe not, but Cal seems to be a lock, especially since the Bears' opener will be the winner of tonight's matchup between Oregon (15-15) and WSU (16-14) about 16 hours after their first game ends.

"I do feel like (the tournament) is as wide-open as its ever been," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent. "But you've got to give Cal the nod, because Cal has the seniors, are Pac-10 champion, and all those things."

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• That's it for today. We'll be back in the morning. Until then ...

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