COUGARS

Washington State is a team that may have to play near perfect basketball if it wants to be successful in the Pac-10 season. There is more margin of error, of course, at home because the tangible elements that come with playing in front of its fans can help a team overcome mistakes. Well the Cougars made too many to overcome even at home Thursday night. They made them early and dug a hole that reached 14 in the first half. They made them early in the second half and saw the lead grow to 19. Then they did whatever they could to come back, clawing within four a couple times in the final 10 minutes. But when they needed to make stops, they couldn't, with Derek Glasser hitting a 25-foot 3-pointer from behind big Eric Boateng the final time WSU got within four (59-55, which should have been three but Reggie Moore missed a free throw). That triggered a deciding 10-3 run. We'll be back in about 90 minutes with our game story.

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