Glenn Kasses

PULLMAN – Some nights it just looks easy, but it's been a long time since things looked this simple for Washington State. The Cougars showed no signs of slacking off against a weaker Arizona State team and in the process picked up their biggest Pac-10 basketball win in nearly three years, by a 75-55 final.

The Cougars are off to a 12-2 start this season, and a lot of it has to do with the return of Daven Harmeling, who missed all but a few minutes of the season opener last year with a shoulder injury. Harmeling was a role player in 2004-05 as a freshman, but he's come back this season as a redshirt sophomore to become a key player.

LOS ANGELES – This could have been another brutally difficult Pac-10 loss for Washington State. In fact, it's possible that it should have been another hard-fought, narrow defeat. But Kyle Weaver wasn't going to let it happen.

All those who had Washington State at 11-1 heading into the Pac-10 men's basketball season may now fill out their Mensa applications. Surprising just about every outside observer known to man, the Cougars have completed their non-conference season with that sterling mark. Although their toughest games lie ahead of them – none more difficult than the league opener Thursday at No. 1 UCLA – there is no disputing that the Cougars will be entering Pac-10 play looking as good as they have in years.

SEATTLE – Tony Bennett managed to describe his team's final non-conference game of the season in two short words Thursday night. "Bad. Good," the coach said.

SEATTLE – No one knows just how good this Washington State team is, even after a 10-1 start that has its fans abuzz with excitement under first-year head coach Tony Bennett. A week from now, a road trip to No. 1 UCLA will probably offer an excellent indication of the Cougars' true nature. But for now, tonight's game against San Diego State – to be played in Seattle's KeyArena – might just do the trick.

PULLMAN – After an unusually short media session, a reporter shrugged to Kyle Weaver that there wasn't much to ask after a choppy, ragged 69-50 win over Cal State Northridge. "Sorry, one of those games," Weaver said in assent.

PULLMAN — Both Washington State and Idaho are taking a couple of days off from practice to allow their players to focus on finals this week, but the break comes with the two teams in wholly different conditions. After the Cougars defeated the Vandals 66-54 late Saturday night in Moscow, the two teams sport near-opposite records with WSU at 9-1 and Idaho at 1-8.

Dennis Erickson is on the move again. The well-traveled football coach told University of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear during a short meeting Saturday night that he is taking the coaching job at Arizona State University.

PULLMAN – If the foundation has loosened beneath the Washington State University football program, the Cougars coaching staff appears to be doing everything in its power to shore things up in a hurry. In the aftermath of a third consecutive season without a bowl game, WSU is in the midst of an all-out recruiting effort to shore up the depth problems that have plagued it.

PULLMAN – Maybe it was the two losing seasons they endured before it. Maybe it was the home crowd, bigger than any they had seen in their lives. Maybe it was the opponent, a Gonzaga team that has dominated both the local airwaves and the Cougars for nearly a decade. Or maybe it was the knowledge that one member of the 10,755-person crowd, their former coach, is slated for hip replacement surgery this week. Whatever the reason, the Washington State Cougars were not going away quietly Tuesday night, and they got a win that could end up being a program's turning point for it.

PULLMAN – Gonzaga will play Washington State at 7 tonight attempting to win another basketball game in the midst of an impossibly difficult stretch of December games. WSU, on the other hand, will be attempting to win a whole lot more than just a game.

PULLMAN – On Friday, Washington State's veteran players tried to convince the younger players that Saturday's game against Eastern Washington was a game they needed to win. At least one of those fresh faces got the message.

PULLMAN – Winning is starting to look routine for Washington State, which is, of course, anything but routine based on its recent and even its not-so-recent history. The Cougars, with a 62-50 win Wednesday night over Portland, moved to 7-0, matching their second-best start in the last 58 years.