Morning links: WSU’s seniors prepare for final homestand
Tonight Washington State will take on No. 13 Utah, the team that blows out everyone but Arizona.
OK, so that's the pessimistic view. But the Utes are really, really good and this would be a huge victory for the Cougars. That being said, they beat the Utes in Pullman last year and both teams are much improved since then.
It's also the beginning of the end for WSU's seniors, who will play their last game on Saturday. It's been a wild year for the trio. Dexter Kernich-Drew turned into a premiere scorer at the end of his final season and Jordan Railey has had a better year than anybody could have predicted. DaVonté Lacy was thinking about transferring at the end of last season, but is pretty glad he stayed. We've got a story on all that in today's paper.
To supplement today's coverage we've got our weekly WSU outlook a transcript of our interview yesterday with Ernie Kent and post-practice video interviews with Kernich-Drew and Lacy.
The WSU women open the Pac-12 tournament today at 11:30 a.m. against Oregon. Here's Thomas Clouse's preview.
There were a couple rivalry games played in the Pac-12 yesterday. Oregon outlasted Oregon State in a rare Beavers home loss. Jason Quick says that OSU coach Wayne Tinkle – a Coach of the Year finalist – has had a great season, if not a great game. Dana Altman may not be a Naismith finalist, but he's coached the Ducks, picked No. 8 in the preseason media poll, to a third-place finish in the Pac-12.
UCLA and USC's regular seasons ended in predictable fashion with the Bruins besting the Trojans at home.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak is also in the Coach of the Year running.