COUGARS

FROM PULLMAN -- OK, so that's a lie. But we are leaving for Phoenix just about the time this post goes live. WSU and Arizona State get going tonight at 7 at Wells Fargo Arena. Preview the day with some links.

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Here's our advance of tonight's game, focusing on Royce Woolridge's return to his hometown. ... Bud Withers has this Pac-12 notebook column, focusing on the blowback from Cal coach Mike Montgomery's shove of star player Allen Crabbe. Also included at the end of Withers' column is a note about Dexter Kernich-Drew's final foul against Oregon. Ken Bone said on the coaches teleconference yesterday that he believed Kernich-Drew was alone in his belief that WSU was still down by one point, contrary, Withers notes, to what E.J. Singler implied after the game when he said he thought he heard a WSU player yell "foul." Bone joked that maybe a fan yelled it. But to his knowledge, nobody on the floor did. ... CougCenter argues that Royce Woolridge should be moved off the ball next season (though I'd note that he was moved off primary ball-handling duties pretty early in this season). ... Arizona State is trying to break its "closeness" curse, though the Cougars would gladly trade places.

Around the Pac-12 ... Arizona is trying to cure its 2nd-half blues, and wants to defend the 3-point shot as well as it did the first time it played Washington. The Huskies and Wildcats get together again tonight (8 p.m., ESPN2). Washington wants more out of its power forward position. ... UCLA's game against USC on Sunday is a matter of perspective. The Bruins' offense is simpler now and running more smoothly. ... One columnist (and others, elsewhere) thinks Montgomery's shove was out of line. Crabbe just wants the questions to stop. ... Oregon's high-scoring freshman is improving both offensively and defensively. 

That's all for now. We'll be back before the game.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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