Hendrickson Does It All
Washington State’s Mark Hendrickson wasn’t exactly where his teammates would have liked him during the waning seconds of Saturday afternoon’s 77-75 Pacific-10 Conference men’s basketball win over stubborn Oregon State.
The Cougars’ 6-foot-9 junior forward was on the bench, having fouled out on a questionable call with 1:33 left and his team ahead by only three points.
But the way Hendrickson handled his disqualification and the way he supported his teammates from the sidelines might have played as big a role in the victory as the 26 points and six rebounds he contributed before fouling out.
“When Mark fouls out, of course there’s going to be a lot of talk about, ‘Who’s gonna do this inside?’ and ‘Who’s gonna rebound at the end?”’ admitted WSU point guard Donminic Ellison, who finished with nine points and eight assists. “But one thing that I thought was real positive for the team is that Mark never quit.
“He probably didn’t agree with the (fifth-foul) call but, hey, that’s basketball. And he went to the sidelines and he was almost like a coach at times. He was up and he was feisty and that really helped keep us together.”
Hendrickson said he didn’t remember doing anything special on the sidelines during crunch time except fretting.
“I was just trying to help as best I could,” he said. “There’s no sense pouting over the call. I just had to accept it - that I wasn’t going to play the rest of this game - and be a cheerleader. That’s all I really tried to do. They made the plays out there.
“I understand now, though, what coaches go through. It’s more nervous when you’re sitting there watching than when you’re out playing. Hopefully, it won’t happen again. I was stressing out.”
Hendrickson has played the best basketball of his career of late. In WSU’s last four games he has averaged 23 points and more than eight rebounds. He has made 41 of his last 54 shots from the field and leads the Pac-10 with a field-goal percentage of 67.8.
“Mark’s been aggressive and more consistent the last couple of games and we’ve noticed that as a team,” Ellison said.
Washington St. 77, Oregon St. 75
OREGON STATE (4-10)
Hoff 5-10 11-13 21, Barry 7-13 4-4 19, Heredia 5-9 3-8 13, Williams 2-7 2-2 6, Brown 3-8 6-6 12, Vetter 1-1 2-3 4, Boline 0-2 0-0 0, Benjamin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 28-36 75.
WASHINGTON STATE (8-5)
Hendrickson 10-12 5-5 26, Daniel 2-3 0-2 4, Fontaine 3-9 5-6 11, Antrum 2-9 3-4 9, Ellison 4-10 0-2 9, Griffin 1-1 0-0 2, Corkrum 2-4 1-2 5, Vik 0-2 0-0 0, Mack 3-4 5-8 11. Totals 27-54 19-29 77.
Halftime-Washington State 42, Oregon State 37. 3-Point goals-Oregon State 1-7 (Barry 1-4, Williams 0-1, Brown 0-1, Boline 0-1), Washington State 4-13 (Antrum 2-5, Hendrickson 1-1, Vik 0-1, Fountaine 0-2, Ellison 0-4). Fouled out- Hendrickson, Hoff. Rebounds-Oregon State 29 (Hoff, Heredia 6), Washington State 31 (Hendrickson, Antrum 6). Assists- Oregon State 11 (Brown 4), Washington State 14 (Ellison 8). Total fouls-Oregon State 19, Washington State 22. A-6,971.