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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 2009


Washington State center Aron Baynes, left, shoots over Oregon State's Daniel Deane (30) and Roeland Schaftenaar during the second half of an NCAA basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.  Baynes led Washington State with 17 points to beat Oregon State in overtime 61-59. (Associated Press)

OSU will try to spread out WSU 

COUGARS As Washington State rolled through its defensive strategies for the Beavers and their Princeton-style offense, the emphasis was on communicating. Letting your teammate know what you are doing and knowing what he's doing. Coach Tony Bennett emphasized more than once that the pack wasn't…

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Gonzaga forward Josh Heytvelt (42), guard Matt Bouldin (15) and forward Austin Daye leave the court in triumph.   (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Day after Saint Mary's 

Back with the day-after post from Gonzaga's 72-70 win over Saint Mary's on Thursday, played out before a loud and packed McKeon Pavilion."It was nuts," GU reserve center Will Foster said. "It was nuts."Yes it was. More below. I'll post my GU-San Francisco advance later…

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WSU’s Aron Baynes draws a foul while attempting a dunk Thursday.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Oregon, the day after 11 

COUGARS An interesting night in the Pac-10. Not only do the Cougars throttle Oregon, the Huskies win to move back atop the conference standings when UCLA fades late in a loss to Arizona State. And Arizona continues its roll, getting past USC at home. With…

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THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 2009

Zags hold off Gaels, 72-70 11 

Gonzaga used a 7-0 run to break away from a 60-60 tie, but the Bulldogs couldn't seal the deal at the free-throw line. Five misses in the last 43 seconds gave Saint Mary's a couple chances at the lead, but the Gaels turned the ball…

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Oregon perfect medicine for WSU 

COUGARS Of course the Ducks were winless in the Pac-10 coming in. Of course they were 6-17 overall, hadn't defended well, had been worked by just about every conference foe. But, as Taylor Rochestie said, Washington State, after having dropped three consecutive games and five…

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Aggies show their mettle at Idaho 

IDAHO BASKETBALLOnce again, the Vandals had a chance to make a big splash in WAC play. But poor rebounding and too many big plays from Utah State resulted in a 62-53 loss at the Cowan Spectrum.Keep reading for my game story that will appear in…

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GSL suspense takes suspense out of pairings

Two suspenseful games took the suspense out of the post-season pairings in Greater Spokane League boys basketball. Mead scored at the buzzer to beat Shadle Park and Lewis and Clark scored near the buzzer to beat Rogers.That means that Mead (11-9) is District 8 4A…

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WSU blows out Oregon, 67-38 

COUGARS Is there any better way to start a game against a team that's lost 11 consecutive conference games than with a 19-2 lead? From that point, 10 minutes, 29 seconds into the game, the only thing to wonder about was the final score. Of…

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Zags, Gaels even at half 

Gonzaga trailed by as many as nine, but the Bulldogs rallied to pull even, 36-36, with Saint Mary's at half.Josh Heytvelt had 12 points and Matt Bouldin 11 for the 19th-ranked Bulldogs, who were sluggish offensively and made just 12 of 30 field-goal attempts (40…

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WSU leads by 14 at the half

COUGARS Did that seem like a quick half to you? The Cougars came out on fire and built a 25-5 lead, which is their biggest in a Pac-10 game this year. The Ducks battled back and cut the lead to 12 at one point. But…

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Gonzaga, Saint Mary's pre-game notes 

A couple of notes as McKeon Pavilion begins filling up for the 8 p.m. tipoff. Gonzaga is breaking out new black uniforms. The shorts are black with a thick blue stripe on the side. The players are still wearing their shooting shirts, so I haven't…

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Washington State's Aron Baynes is guarded closely by UCLA's Gordon Drew. UCLA won 61-59.  (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)

Countdown to Oregon 

COUGARS No one wants to be first. Not after 11 consecutive conference losses. No one in the Pac-10 wants to be the first team to lose to the University of Oregon. The Ducks are 6-17 overall to go with their 0-11 conference mark. But they've…

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Post Falls High School’s Jordan Schoening passes the ball during practice at the school last Thursday.  (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Look at those Spartans

The Priest River boys basketball team is 13-0, 7-0 in the Intermountain League. Read about the Spartans in my column.Also, Post Falls senior standout Jordan Schoening has had an MVP-type year. Read about her here.

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Update: Post season upon us 

I'M UPDATING THIS POST FROM EARLIER TODAY - Mike V.Wrestling and gymnastics is into the next to last weekend of their seasons and basketball playoffs are in full swing with 1A, 2B and 1B teams vying for state.Tonight marks the end of the regular Greater…

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Wulff's thoughts on NCAA violations 35 

COUGARS, EAGLES Let's change gears. As you probably know, the NCAA handed down its sanctions against Eastern Washington's football program Wednesday for violations that occurred while current WSU coach Paul Wulff was in charge. Wulff was also hit with two penalties: missing the first three…

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Oregon invades Pullman tonight

COUGARS We're going to have two posts this morning. This one, concerned with tonight's basketball game with Oregon and containing links to the same. The next one, which we will post soon, will contain links to the stories concerning Eastern Washington's NCAA sanctions and how…

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WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11, 2009

Ronny Turiaf brought his enthusiasm for life from the Lakers to the Golden State Warriors.  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Dinner, and a WCC game 

Made the trip to Oakland today and was greeted by a couple of downpours. The Zags were supposed to leave this afternoon and they have dinner plans with some guy named Ronny Turiaf.The ex-Zag, who attended last year's Loyola Marymount game when he was with…

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WSU hopes season lasts a bit longer

COUGARS I don't know how many of you are caught up in the NCAA violations story, but we have to keep our eyes – at least one anyway – on the basketball season. Along those lines, we have a story for tomorrow's S-R concerning the…

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NCAA hits Eastern, Wulff 59 

UPDATED: 4:10 P.M. The NCAA has slapped Eastern Washington University with a postseason ban this fall and other sanctions for violations that occurred during now-Washington State coach Paul Wulff's tenure. Wulff was also punished by the NCAA and will have to miss the first three…

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TUESDAY, FEB. 10, 2009

WSU hopes Oregon isn't in payback mode 

COUGARS About five minutes ago I wasn't sure I was going to be able to post anything new tonight. After reading through my notes on Tony Bennett's press conference today and after observing practice in the afternoon, there wasn't a whole heck of lot to…

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