It was obvious throughout Tuesday night's 68-59 loss to Washington State that Idaho coach Joe Cravens was much more appalled than enthralled with the officiating.
But lest anyone in the Kibbie Dome crowd of 3,884 had failed to notice his series of sideline tantrums, Cravens punctuated his frustration by grabbing the basketball away from WSU point guard Donminic Ellison immediately following the final buzzer and punting it toward the cheap seats.
The shanked kick fell short of the stands however, prompting Cravens to lament, "I thought I'd get more distance out of that ball than I did."
It was one of the few light-hearted moments in an otherwise somber postgame interview area as Cravens and his players struggled to come to grips with a fifth-consecutive defeat and their first home loss to WSU since 1987.
"We competed hard and I'm pleased with that," Cravens said of his 9-12 Vandals. "I'm through being disappointed, I'm through being down. I don't really care about what streak this breaks or any of that stuff.
"I'm through putting pressure on myself and my family worrying about this streak or that streak. Our kids were upbeat after the game because I was upbeat after the game and that's the way we're going to play it out."
Cravens refused to say what prompted his post-game explosion, but it was apparent that he felt WSU senior center Mark Hendrickson was allowed to be more physical on the low blocks than the rules allow.
"I don't really know what I was reacting to," he told reporters, who asked about his postgame punt. "You guys will have to fill in the blanks on that one.
"We played hard, we just had trouble scoring. Our inability to attack their zone cost us the game - that and trying to guard Mark Hendrickson with him hanging onto to everybody who tried to guard him."
Granted, Cravens and his Vandals ended up on the short end of a few calls and no-calls. But when everything sorted out, the best team probably won and, as Cravens said, it won with defense.
The Cougars, after stumbling to a 33-31 halftime lead, turned up the defensive heat after intermission and stifled the Vandals with an aggressive zone defense.
"It seemed like we shot the ball better tonight," WSU coach Kevin Eastman said, after watching his team win its third in a row and raise its overall record to 12-8 with the non-conference win. "But our defense is what got us going.
"We really recognized their shooters extremely well and contested those perimeter shots."
It helped, too, that the Cougars rediscovered their collective shooting touch.
Despite Carlos Daniels' sub-par 1-for-8 effort, WSU shot almost 47 percent from the field. Hendrickson finished with 23 points, nine of which came from the free-throw line, and guards Isaac Fontaine and Shamon Antrum combined for 33 more.
Antrum's 16 points came on 5-for-6 shooting from 3-point range and might have signalled an end to his recent shooting slump.
Overshadowed by WSU's solid second-half performance and Cravens' postgame histrionics was the splendid play of Idaho's Harry Harrison, who scored 12 points and corralled 19 rebounds.
It was the best rebounding effort by a WSU opponent since Southern California's Ron Riley burned the Cougars with 25 boards in 1972.
The Vandals will take another stab at snapping their skid Saturday night when they entertain Big Sky Conference foe Eastern Washington at 7:05. WSU will play host to Washington at Friel Court Saturday afternoon at 3.
Washington St. 68, Idaho 59
Washington St. (12-8) - Daniel 1-8 1-1 3, Fontaine 7-11 1-2 17, Hendrickson 7-12 9-9 23, Ellison 1-4 1-2 3, Antrum 5-8 1-2 16, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Mack 2-3 2-3 6. Totals 23-49 15-19 68.
Idaho (9-12) - Turner 2-10 2-2 6, Harrison 5-9 2-2 12, Gardner 4-6 0-0 8, Rose 4-15 4-4 13, Dirden 4-10 1-1 12, Baumann 0-3 0-0 0, Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Jackman 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 23-61 9-9 59.
Halftime-Washington St. 33, Idaho 31. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 7-12 (Fontaine 2-3, Hendrickson 0-1, Antrum 5-6, Jackson 0-2), Idaho 4-17 (Turner 0-2, Rose 1-7, Dirden 3-6, Baumann 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington St. 30 (Hendrickson 11), Idaho 37 (Harrison 19). Assists-Washington St. 15 (Ellison 7), Idaho 6 (Harrison 2). Total fouls-Washington St. 15, Idaho 19. A-3,884.
