Cougars can celebrate

TUCSON, Ariz. – Everyone stopped, looked. No, not this time. No whistle.

DeAngelo Casto’s point-blank basket with 0.1 seconds remaining not only lifted Washington State University past the University of Arizona 78-76 Friday night, but gave everyone connected with Cougars basketball flashbacks.

Flashbacks to just eight days earlier, when Casto dropped in another short shot to seemingly defeat Oregon by two at the end of overtime. A technical foul for too many players on the court, however, allowed the Ducks to tie and win in the next overtime.

Not this time.

“I looked immediately (at the bench),” Reggie Moore said of the final basket. “I knew there was 0.1 on the clock, so there was no way they could score. Just make sure everybody was off the court.”

They were.

On the court it was Moore, the freshman point guard, who took over down the stretch. He finished with a career-high 20 points, including 11 in a key second-half stretch when the Wildcats (7-8, 1-2 Pacific-10) looked as if they had wrested control.

And it was Moore who coach Ken Bone trusted with the ball after UA had forged the game’s 10th and final tie on freshman Solomon Hill’s putback with 13.5 seconds remaining.

Bone eschewed a timeout, allowing Moore – who struggled against Arizona’s pressure defense early, but seemed to grow more experienced by the second-half minute – to make a play.

“In my mind I was thinking there was no way we could lose,” Moore said of the last play. “I told Coach that I had it.”

He did.

Casto came up to the top of the key to set a screen. Moore drove off it left, and 6-foot-7 Jamelle Horne tried to switch. With Klay Thompson, who finished with 19 points – five less than his average – and eight rebounds, in the corner, help was late. So Moore was able to turn the corner.

“Nic Wise came down to cut me off in the lane,” Moore said, referring to Arizona’s senior point guard, with whom he battled all night, “and I dumped it to DeAngelo. He made the play, just like I expected him to.”

The clock showed 0.1, and everyone looked to the WSU bench. The coaches and players had their arms extended like a fence, making sure a sorry chapter wasn’t repeated.

Arizona tossed the ball in, Wise touched it and the Cougars were 2-1 in the Pac-10 and 12-3 overall. It was only their eighth win in Tucson, this one coming before 12,758, who filed out of the McKale Center quietly.

“I know Reggie has a lot of experience with the on-ball (screen), so let’s put him in that position, and try to let him make a play,” Bone said.

Early on, he didn’t.

The freshman had a career-high six turnovers, four of them in the first half. That’s when Arizona’s defense forced WSU into 10, keeping the Wildcats tied at halftime despite their woeful early shooting and rebounding. After 10 minutes the Wildcats were shooting 29 percent. On the boards WSU had an 18-14 edge at the half and a 35-26 margin when it was over.

But the second half was a new semester and Moore schooled Wise more than once on aggressive drives. The Cougars built a 10-point lead halfway through, saw Horne (12 points), Kyle Fogg and Derrick Williams (13 apiece) power the Wildcats back in front, then rallied down the stretch.

“He’s one of the best in the Pac-10,” Moore said of the UA senior who finished with 15 points, including six in the final 4 minutes. “I grew up watching Arizona on TV and seeing him throughout the years.”

“To play as well as he did was amazing,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said of Moore, playing in his first Pac-10 road game. “He got to the free-throw line 14 times.”

If Miller was trying to make a point about the whistles, he was a lot more subtle than he was with 6:48 left.

That’s when Williams, his prized freshman and leading scorer, was called for his fifth foul, a call Miller hotly debated.

The 6-8 Williams, who 15 seconds earlier had earned a charge on Thompson despite looking to be in the no-charge area under the basket, attacked the rim and bumped into Casto, who fell to the floor, drawing the crucial whistle and turnover with WSU up 62-58.

It was one of several big defensive stops the Cougars earned down the stretch, though leading 76-74 after Moore made one of two free throws with 27.5 seconds left, they couldn’t keep Wise from getting to the rim or Hill from following up the miss.

It was the last of UA’s nine offensive rebounds. But the Cougars had 12, including six from Casto (he had nine rebounds total), to go along with 16 points – none more important than the last two.

“I caught it and kind of did a little flick,” Casto said.

Asked how many winners he’s had, the sophomore smiled, and said, “That’s two this year.”

And this one counted.

WSU 78, Arizona 76

WSU		FG	FT	Reb
(12-3, 2-1)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Casto	30	6-12	4-4	6-9	0	4	16
Capers	28	2-4	1-2	0-3	1	2	5
Thompson	36	7-15	3-5	0-8	4	2	19
Moore	32	5-10	10-14	0-1	3	1	20
Lodwick	16	1-3	0-0	0-0	1	3	3
Koprivica	24	3-3	0-0	1-7	2	2	7
Thames	18	2-6	0-0	1-1	0	3	4
Watson	10	2-2	0-0	3-4	0	1	4
Harthun	6	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	0	0
Totals	200	28-55	18-25	12-34	11	18	78

Percentages: FG .509, FT .720. 3-Point Goals: 4-10, .400 (Thompson 2-4, Moore 0-1, Lodwick 1-3, Koprivica 1-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 4 (Casto, Capers, Thompson, Lodwick). Turnovers: 16 (Casto 2, Thompson 3, Moore 6, Koprivica 4, Watson). Steals: 3 (Moore, thames, Harthun). Technical Fouls: None.

Arizona		FG	FT	Reb
(7-8, 1-2)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Williams	17	4-4	5-8	2-6	0	5	13
Horne	28	4-8	2-2	0-3	0	4	12
Hill	27	2-4	1-2	1-4	1	2	5
Wise	34	5-14	4-4	0-0	4	4	15
Fogg	34	4-10	3-4	1-2	4	3	13
Natyazhko	21	2-4	0-0	2-5	1	1	4
Parrom	17	3-5	0-2	0-0	2	2	7
Jones	10	1-5	2-2	0-1	1	1	4
Lavender	12	1-2	0-0	0-1	1	1	3
Totals	200	16-56	17-24	6-22	14	23	76

Percentages: FG .464, FT .708. 3-Point Goals: 7-20, .350 (Horne 2-4, Hill 0-1, Wise 1-5, Fogg 2-5, Parrom 1-2, Jones 0-1, Lavender 1-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 3 (Williams 2, Wise). Turnovers: 10 (Williams 2, Horne, Hill 2, Wise 2, Fogg 2, Natyazhko). Steals: 7 (Williams, Horne, Hill, Wise 2, Fogg, Parrom). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Washington St. 35, Arizona 35. A–12,758.