College Basketball Tonight
Southern Cal at WSU
The Cougars (5-4 in the Pac-10 and 10-7 overall) return to Friel Court in an attempt to rekindle their postseason hopes by playing the Trojans (2-7 and 7-12). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
At a glance
WSU opens the second half of its Pac-10 schedule against a Southern Cal team that has been more difficult to predict than the future of major league baseball. The Cougars thought they had a chance to beat the Trojans during their Los Angeles road swing last month, especially considering the way USC played in a 90-89 overtime loss to Oregon State a week earlier. But senior forward Lorenzo Orr put his teammates on his shoulders and carried them to an 85-76 upset win. “We’ve got to find some way to do a better job on him,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman said of the 6-foot-7 Orr, who scored 24 points in the first meeting between the two schools. “Obviously, the combination of Orr and (Jaha) Wilson is the best inside rebounding combination in the league. We definitely have to keep them from getting second shots.” Wilson, a 6-5 sophomore, leads the Pac-10 with 10.1 rebounds per game and Orr is eighth with 7.6. That means the Cougars need Mark Hendrickson and Tavares Mack to bounce back in a big way from poor performances in last Sunday’s 87-60 loss at Arizona State. Eastman said his team was down emotionally early in the week. “But we can’t stay down too long,” he added, “because if we do, we got 0-2 this weekend.” WSU point guard Donminic Ellison, who missed last Thursday’s road loss to Arizona with the chicken pox and played only 11 minutes in the ASU game, should be 100 percent healthy, according to Eastman. Also in the Cougars’ favor is the fact they have won all nine home games they have played this season, while USC is 1-6 on the road.
USC: Lorenzo Orr, 18.5 points per game, 7.6 rebounds; Jaha Wilson, 13.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg; Cameron Murray, 4.5 assists. WSU: Isaac Fontaine, 17.8 ppg; Shamon Antrum, 12.2 ppg, 3.3 apg; Mark Hendrickson, 14.2 ppg, 9.5 rebounds.
Radio
KXLY (920 AM) Spokane, KWSU (1250 AM) Pullman, KORD 870 AM) Tri-Cities, KCLX (1450 AM) Colfax, KCVL (1240 AM) Colville, KWWW (1340 AM) Wenatchee, KBSN (1470 AM) Moses Lake, KNSN (97.1 FM) Walla Walla, 7:10 p.m.
Carroll College, Whitman at Whitworth
Carroll College will take on Whitworth in a non-conference
game tonight at 8 and Whitman travels to Whitworth for a Saturday night tilt at 8.
At a glance
Whitworth (No. 5 NAIA Div. II) and Carroll College are more than intimately acquainted with each other. This will be the third meeting between the two this season. Whitworth won the first contest in the Lewis-Clark State Tournament in November, and Carroll won the second game on its homecourt.
Against Whitman, the Pirates (6-3 NCIC, 16-7) need a victory to hold their share of first place. Willamette (6-3, 14-9) is tied with Whitworth, followed by Lewis & Clark (5-3, 11-12) Whitman (5-4, 9-15), Pacific Lutheran (5-5, 11-12) and Linfield (4-5, 10-14).
The Missionaries are paced by Russ Mickelson (15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds) and Brian Lewallen (13.8 points). The Pirates’ Nate Dunham and Kevin Wright are No. 3 and 4 in scoring in the league at 17.5 and 17.3 points a game.