WSU Wins Weird Battle Cougars Top Vandals, 66-54, In Game Littered With Errors

If the turnovers, technical fouls, botched easy shots and players mindlessly stepping out of bounds didn’t capture the essence of the Idaho-Washington State men’s basketball game, then referee Mike Peterson did.

“Is it just me,” a confused Peterson relayed during a break at the scorer’s table, “or has a bunch of weird stuff happened tonight?”

Weird all right. WSU shot 38 percent and won 66-54 on Saturday night at Friel Court. Idaho shot 49 percent, outrebounded the Cougars by 12 but committed 27 turnovers, perhaps 15 of ‘em on travels and stepping on the baseline on drives to the bucket.

The announced crowd of 9,925 couldn’t quite get into a habit of applauding either way in this disjointed border war.

“It was definitely a different type of game,” said WSU guard Donminic Ellison, who played all 40 minutes. Backup Chris Scott was given the night off for academic reasons and guard Kareem Jackson reinjured his ankle late in the first half.

“Both teams were so anxious to get after each other, there’s a tendency to force things,” Ellison said.

Knotted at 36, momentum shifted to WSU when it, appropriately on this night, missed two shots. UI’s Harry Harrison gathered in Mark Hendrickson’s blown layup and was whistled for a technical for taunting.

Harrison claimed he only growled at a Cougar player. WSU’s Tavares Mack was within earshot and said Harrison, “just started talking. He was yakking to be yakking.”

Regardless of whom you believe, Hendrickson canned both foul shots and WSU immediately went on a 12-4 run for a 48-40 lead with 12:10 remaining.

Just after Idaho crept back to 50-45 on Shawn Dirden’s 3-pointer from 25 feet, the Vandals were hit with another technical. This time, UI was caught with six players on the floor while trying to substitute after a time out.

Hendrickson, again, hit both foul shots.

“I understand they’re trying to cut down on the taunting, but I didn’t think that was a real flagrant case,” said UI coach Joe Cravens, whose team played hard, albeit not always wisely, but dropped to 3-3.

WSU (5-1) saw its lead melt to 54-52 with 5:45 left after another Dirden 3-pointer.

Idaho’s Eddie Turner missed from close range on a potential game-tying attempt and WSU reeled off the next eight points. Spicing that run was two steals by Isaac Fontaine, whose name usually is absent from sentences containing the word “defense.”

Hendrickson finished with 20 points and 10 boards, atoning for his field-goal-less, six-point effort against Montana on Wednesday.

“Oh, Mark played the other night,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman joked. “Anybody who bet that Mark wouldn’t bounce back made a foolish bet.”

Hendrickson was WSU’s only reliable weapon against UI, though all five starters hit double figures. WSU had no points from its bench.

Dirden and Reggie Rose each had 14 points. Rose hadn’t eaten in two days due to the stomach flu and he left late in the first half because he felt dizzy.

“I had to go get some liquids,” he said. He only played 10 minutes in the second half.

Idaho got decent bench production, led by Turner’s eight points, but his play alternated between a nice pull-up jump shot and a turnover.

The first half was evenly played with the exception of a 2-minute stretch when UI coughed up repeated turnovers against WSU’s full-court trap. The Cougars bounced into a 23-12 lead but Idaho clawed back to trail 32-29 at half.

WSU visits San Jose State on Dec. 27. UI returns to the Kibbie Dome to face Rocky Mountain on Friday. Idaho and WSU will stage a rematch Feb. 13 in Moscow.

Washington St. 66, Idaho 54

Idaho (3-3)- Harrison 1-2 1-2 3, Jones 3-3 0-0 6, Gardner 1-3 1-2 3, Dirden 6-12 0-0 14, Rose 5-9 3-4 14, Baumann 1-6 0-0 2, Turner 4-7 0-0 8, Jackman 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 23-47 5-8 54.

Washington St. (5-1) - Hendrickson 5-9 10-11 20, Fontaine 4-13 2-2 10, Mack 5-9 2-4 12, Antrum 6-14 0-0 14, Ellison 3-9 2-4 10, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Daniel 0-4 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 16-21 66.

Halftime-Washington St. 32, Idaho 29. 3-Point goals-Idaho 3-12 (Dirden 2-4, Rose 1-3, Baumann 0-5), Washington St. 4-15 (Antrum 2-5, Ellison 2-6, Hendrickson 0-2, Fontaine 0-2). Fouled out-Harrison. Rebounds-Idaho 39 (Harrison 11), Washington St. 27 (Hendrickson 10). Assists-Idaho 8 (Baumann 3), Washington St. 13 (Ellison 5). Total fouls-Idaho 20. Washington St. 14. A-9,925.

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