Canisius: Unfinished Business WSU Wants Revenge In Rematch At Syracuse

Motivation, it seems, should be one of coach Kevin Eastman’s least concerns as he prepares his Washington State men’s basketball team for Friday’s rematch with Canisius.

Revenge, renewal, reward and recognition are all there for the taking - provided the Cougars (2-0) can find their way past the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Golden Griffins (3-1) in the opening round of the Carrier Classic in Syracuse, N.Y.

Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. (PST) in the Carrier Dome, with Big East host Syracuse scheduled to face Ivy League representative Columbia in Friday’s first-round nightcap.

And a WSU victory over the team that knocked it out of the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y., last March would scratch a lot of itches for a Cougars team coming off an 11-day layoff.

“This is a good tournament for us,” Eastman said. “We have the opportunity to compete against the team that basically ended our season last year.”

In addition, a win over Canisius would provide WSU with an upbeat return to the college basketball wars, a chance to dramatically improve its power rating and - in all likelihood - a shot at Syracuse, a nationally known Eastern power.

“It’s an important game in terms of power ratings, because Canisius is going to beat a lot of teams this year,” Eastman said. “And if we get by Canisius, we would welcome the opportunity to play Syracuse, a nationally recognized team, on its home floor and see how we can do.”

In order for everything to fall into place, however, the Cougars must hold off a deep, talented Golden Griffins team that is quicker and more disciplined than last year’s.

“In the first two games (this year), they ran a lot more than they did last year,” Eastman said after watching video of Canisius’ 73-53 win over Western Michigan and 72-68 loss to Akron. “But in the half-court, they also run a lot of set stuff, and they’re running it well, I think, for the beginning of the year.”

Canisius took advantage of a familiar Memorial Auditorium setting, a friendly crowd and a series of beneficial second-half calls to upend WSU 89-80 in last year’s NIT. The Griffins, who finished 21-14 after losing to Virginia in the semifinals of the tournament, got 24 points from Micheal Meeks and 20 from Darrell Barley to beat the Cougars.

Both the 6-foot-9 Meeks and the 6-5 Barley are back for their senior seasons. But coach John Beilein lost forward Craig Wise, the MAAC player of the year, to graduation.

And he could be without his top two point guards for Friday’s game after starter Javone “Bam” Moore went down with a severe ankle sprain in a 77-64 win over St. Bonaventure last week and backup Kevin Thompson injured his back in Tuesday night’s 82-75 win over Buffalo.

Beilein said Moore and Thompson are “doubtful” for the WSU game.

“Which means we’re going to have to play (hard) again to beat them,” Beilein said Wednesday afternoon.

Beilein said last year’s win over the Cougars involved one of team’s best efforts of the year.

“It was a magical night,” he recalled. “But winning probably puts us at a disadvantage for this game. I’m sure Washington State will not take us lightly - if they ever did. And I expect them to come in ready to take their frustration from that loss out on us.”

Eastman said he has not stressed the revenge factor this week.

“But I’m sure it’s in the players’ minds,” he added.

“We’ve definitely got some unfinished business to take care of,” said senior forward Mark Hendrickson, who is averaging 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game for the Cougars.

“If you lose to anyone and you have a chance to play them again, there’s alway a little revenge involved,” added junior forward Tavares Mack. “But we’re approaching this as just another game that we have to win.”

The WSU-Canisius game will be telecast on Prime Sports Northwest on a delayed basis at 8 p.m. Friday.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WSU vs. Canisius The Cougars (2-0) and Golden Griffins (3-1) open the four-team Carrier Classic at 3 p.m. (PST), with host Syracuse (4-0) scheduled to face Columbia (3-2) in the first-round nightcap. A crowd of more than 24,000 is expected at the Carrier Dome. At a glance: This rematch of last year’s NIT quarterfinalists favors WSU on paper. The Cougars have all five starters back from a team that ended its 1994-95 season with an 89-80 loss to the Golden Griffins in Buffalo, N.Y. A neutral court should help this time, along with the fact that Canisius will be without Craig Wise, last year’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, who graduated last spring. In addition, the Griffins are hurting at the point-guard spot, where Javone “Bam” Moore and Kevin Thompson are questionable with injuries. Still, Canisius coach John Beilein has a couple of star-quality players in Darrell Barley, an agile 6-foot-5 small forward, and Micheal Meeks, a 6-9 power forward with an outside touch. In addition, the Griffins can present some problems inside, with 6-11 center Ryan Collins. WSU, which used an 11-day layoff to get healthy and put in a few more press schemes and half-court offensive sets, will try to counter with its backcourt quickness, the outside shooting of Isaac Fontaine and the versatility of 6-9 forward Mark Hendrickson. WSU: Isaac Fontaine, 20.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg; Mark Hendrickson, 15.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg; Donminic Ellison, 11.0 ppg, 4.5 apg. Canisius: Darrell Barley, 20.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 5 apg; Micheal Meeks, 13.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg; Mickey Frazier 11.3 ppg. TV/RADIO: Prime Sports Northwest (tape delay), 8 p.m.; KXLY (920 AM) Spokane, KCLX (1450 AM) Colfax, KWSU (1250 AM) Pullman, KCVL (1240 AM) Colville, KZFN (106.0 FM) Moscow, KORD (870 AM) Tri-Cities, KBSN (1470 AM) Moses Lake, KKRT (900 AM) Wenatchee. 2:30 p.m.