Cougs Won’t Be Carrier Pigeons WSU Looks Like A Good Match For Syracuse In Tourney Final

They did their best to avoid mentioning the S- word, at least until they had taken care of some unsettled business with Canisius.

But after dusting off the Golden Griffins 73-62 in Friday’s opening round of the Carrier Classic, the Washington State Cougars shared their feelings about what they’ve wanted all along - a chance to play against an East Coast college basketball power like Syracuse in one of the most acclaimed venues in the country.

The Cougars’ much-anticipated showdown against the host team was locked in when the Orangemen clubbed Columbia 83-60 in Friday’s other first-round game.

Tonight ‘s title game tips off at 5 o’clock and a crowd of more than 25,000 is expected in the 33,000-seat Carrier Dome. The game will be televised live on Prime Sports Northwest and the Cougars, to a man, seem genuinely excited about taking on Syracuse, its fans and its mystique.

“It’s funny,” coach Kevin Eastman said. “We play at UCLA and Arizona every year, but there seems to be something special to our kids about playing back East against a nationally known team like Syracuse.”

The Orangemen will bring a 5-0 record and a history of Carrier Classic domination into tonight’s game. They have lost only two games in the 19 years of the event and they entered this year’s tournament with 13 consecutive titles.

Jim Boeheim, who is 458-150 in 20 seasons at Syracuse, has another splendid team that features decent size and excellent speed and balance.

The Orangmen’s big gun is John Wallace, a 6-foot-8 senior forward who is averaging just over 22 points and eight rebounds. Wallace, from Rochester, N.Y., will probably be matched up with WSU’s Mark Hendrickson in what could prove to be one of most interesting one-on-one battles of the young season.

Along with Wallace, Syracuse boasts two other double-figure scorers in Otis Hill, a 6-8 junior center who averages 13 points a game, and Todd Burgn, a 6-7 sophomore who is tossing in and average of 12.3 per game.

The Orangemen like to zone defensively and run at every opportunity. But there seems to be no intimidation among Cougar players.

“I think we match up well with them and they match up well with us,” said junior forward Isaac Fontaine. “Both teams like to get up and down the court. It should be a real fast-paced game.”

It’s also a winnable game, provided the Cougars shoot the ball well from the perimeter and tune out the crowd.

“This would be a tremendous win,” Hendrickson said. “You can’t get any bigger game than playing in front of 25,000. It could set a tone for us for the rest of the season.”

Syracuse 83, Columbia 60

COLUMBIA (3-3)

Namolik 6-11 2-2 16, Twer 1-1 1-2 3, Tubridy 3-7 4-6 11, Thompkins 2-6 2-2 7, Fuchs 2-9 4-8 9, Hernandez 1-4 1-2 3, Raimondo 2-7 0-0 5, Piskun 1-3 1-3 3, Wachob 1-1 1-2 3, Crep 0-1 0-0 0, Yasser 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 16-27 60.

SYRACUSE (5-0)

Wallace 10-16 6-8 27, Burgan 4-9 0-0 9, Hill 3-5 0-0 6, Janulis 2-3 0-0 6, Sims 0-1 0-0 0, Reafsnyder 0-3 0-2 0, Patrick 0-0 5-6 5, Lazor 5-7 4-4 16, Cipolla 2-6 0-0 5, Ovcina 1-3 1-2 3, Nelson 1-1 0-0 2, Frazier 0-1 2-2 2, Riggins 1-1 0-2 2, Hayes 0-0 0-0 0, May 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 18-26 83.

Halftime-Syracuse 46, Columbia 27. 3-Point goals-Columbia 6-22 (Namolik 2-5, Tubridy 1-1, Thompkins 1-5, Fuchs 1-3, Hernandez 0-1, Raimondo 1-5, Piskun 0-1, Crep 0-1), Syracuse 7-11 (Lazor 2-3, Janulis 2-2, Wallace 1-2, Burgan 1-2, Cipolla 1-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Columbia 35 (Tubridy 7), Syracuse 35 (Wallace 6). Assists- Columbia 6 (Namolik 4), Syracuse 20 (Patrick 6). Total fouls-Columbia 21, Syracuse 20. Technicals-Syracuse bench, 19:18 1st. A-19,850.

, DataTimes