Cougars Let One Slip Away Fontaine’s 31 Can’t Stop UW

Washington State guard Isaac Fontaine found himself in a game of two-on-one Saturday. He was the one. He was almost enough.

But Washington, led by diligent 7-footer Todd MacCulloch and silky 6-9 forward Mark Sanford, escaped Friel Court with a 74-72 men’s basketball victory when Fontaine’s last-gasp 15-footer missed wide right.

Fontaine was open on the shot, having stepped inside the 3-point line to avoid UW guard Jamie Booker, but he missed badly as MacCulloch closed in.

“It was a makeable shot - it wasn’t like he was in my face and I had to look around him or anything,” Fontaine said. “I just didn’t put it down.”

The ending spoiled an unflinching performance by the Cougars, who, spurred on by a season-high crowd of 8,373, built leads of 31-18 and 55-48 - despite the absence of leading rebounder Carlos Daniel.

With the 6-foot-7, 228-pound Daniel serving a onegame suspension after being arrested Thursday on a shoplifting charge, MacCulloch worked the inside for 20 points and 16 rebounds. Sanford, preferring to lurk on the perimeter, added 20 points and nine rebounds.

“Mark and I are just so different and we play so well together,” MacCulloch said. “We’re just a difficult tandem to guard.”

Fontaine nearly offset the Huskies’ manpower advantage with one of his most convincing performances, a 31-point masterpiece in which defenders often resembled his personal stooge.

Fontaine made 12 of 17 field goals, none bigger than the 3-pointer that put WSU ahead 72-70 with 1:29 to play. Left open on the shot, Fontaine waited long enough for a defender to arrive, then fired away.

But Sanford and MacCullough came back with consecutive layups - sandwiched around Beau Archibald’s errant 3 for WSU and the Huskies led 74-72 with 17.8 seconds left.

“The story’s pretty simple,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman said. “MacCulloch and Sanford couldn’t be stopped. (Seven-footer Patrick) Femerling did a nice job and Jan Wooten had kind of a breakout game (with 12 points).”

Still, WSU twice had chances to tie or go ahead in the final 5.9 seconds.

MacCulloch blocked Fontaine’s baseline jumper to foil the first attempt, but the Cougars were spared when the ball caromed off Sanford out of bounds. That set up Fontaine’s final effort, during which he seemed to hesitate at first, as if debating whether to take the 3 or work for a closer, but not necessarily better, shot.

“Not really,” Fontaine said. “They always say, when you’re at home, go for the tie and play the overtime. So I was more thinking of trying to get closer to the basket, just get the tie and get some more minutes on the clock and play on from there.”

Fontaine made 4 of 5 3-pointers, including two in which defenders fell to the floor after succumbing to vicious dribble-drive fakes. For all his artistry, however, Fontaine needed more help than Eastman could summon.

“I keep reminding people, we’re kind of regrouping with our program right now,” Eastman said. “And we’ve got to do it with another good incoming class, which we had this year.”

Archibald, perhaps the best of WSU’s three prominent freshmen, was the only other Cougar in double figures. He mustered 10 points in 12 minutes, once again falling victim to early foul trouble.

When he wasn’t on the bench, Archibald provided two potentially pivotal contributions - a three-point play that stretched WSU’s lead to 55-48 with 11:26 remaining, and a gutsy 3 that put the Cougars up 69-67 with 2:12 left.

Tavares Mack started in place of Daniel and finished with 11 rebounds and three blocks, but the 6-9 post made 1 of 12 field goals and committed four turnovers.

Senior forward Cameron Johnson was somewhat effective in bothering MacCulloch early, but it wouldn’t last. He was whistled for a couple of mystery fouls inside - including once when MacCulloch went over his back for a rebound - and was overmatched, anyway.

“It’s tough when you’re 6-7 and you’re guarding someone who’s 7-foot, 7-1,” Johnson said. “It’s tough to understand how the referees want you to play them and how far you’ve got to have them boxed out to get calls.”

Washington 74, Washington State 72

Washington (10-3) - Sanford 10-17 0-0 20, Booker 3-9 0-0 6, MacCulloch 9-12 2-2 20, Watts 2-7 2-2 6, Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Wooten 5-9 1-2 12, Luton 1-4 0-0 2, Femerling 2-4 2-3 6, Walcott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-64 7-9 74.

Washington St. (10-6) - Mack 1-12 4-4 6, Johnson 2-5 0-2 4, Fontaine 12-17 3-5 31, de la Fuente 3-5 0-1 6, Jackson 2-5 0-0 5, Pengelly 1-4 0-0 2, Archibald 3-7 3-3 10, Crosby 0-1 2-2 2, Slotemaker 2-4 2-3 6. Totals 26-60 14-20 72.

Halftime-Washington St. 36, Washington 32. 3-Point goals-Washington 1-7 (Wooten 1-1, Luton 0-1, Sanford 0-2, Booker 0-3), Washington St. 6-13 (Fontaine 4-5, Jackson 1-2, Archibald 1-4, Pengelly 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington 42 (MacCulloch 16), Washington St. 29 (Mack 11). Assists-Washington 16 (Sanford, Booker, Watts, Wooten), Washington St. 13 (de la Fuente 3). Total fouls-Washington 17, Washington St. 16. A-8,373.

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