Cougars remain stingy
MILWAUKEE – The Washington State Cougars have lived up to their defensive reputation through the first two games of the men’s college basketball season.
They got 20 points from Ivory Clark and rode another big defensive effort for a 74-54 rout of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the John Thompson Classic.
The Pac-10’s top defense from a year ago held UAB to 35 percent shooting (20 of 57) in Friday’s 71-60 season-opening win. It was better Saturday, limiting Wisconsin-Milwaukee to 29 percent shooting (18 of 63).
“It’s a staple of our program,” Cougars coach Tony Bennett said. “I think I’d get in trouble if I didn’t at least try and teach good defense from the guy before me (father Dick).
“It’s our chance to be competitive with the level of teams that we’ll play in our league. We work real hard at it, we really do.”
What made the defense impressive this time was that starters Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver were forced to sit out the final 10 minutes, 59 seconds of the first half because of foul trouble. The Cougars, who trailed by as many as six points early, responded by limiting the Panthers to just nine points in that span.
Chris Matthews, who did not see action in the opener, and Devin Harmeling effectively filled in to help the Cougars take control. Matthews buried a 3-pointer and Clark and Robbie Cowgill each had a pair of baskets in a 13-4 run that closed the half for a 34-23 lead.
“When we’re healthy, we have a bit more depth and it’s competitive in practice,” Bennett said. “I think that helps us.”
Clark, who is shooting 72 percent through two games, had a career-high 10 baskets. He fell three points shy of his career high, set last season against BYU.
“I had the mind-set to shoot a high percentage, to shoot good shots,” Clark said. “I ran in transition tonight – that was a way to score some easy baskets.”
Cowgill and Harmeling also helped frustrate Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Paige Paulsen, who scored four points after tallying 27 in his Panthers debut.
Low and Weaver returned for the start of the second half and the Cougars increased their advantage, leading by as many as 26 points and building momentum for the tournament finale against 0-2 Radford today.
“This is a strange game, you just take it a day at a time,” Bennett said. “Our mentality is that we’re underdogs. We’re picked for 10th place in our league and I remind these guys that every day.”