Cougars Thunder Oregon
They haven’t exactly earned their Road Warrior badges just yet, but the Washington State Cougars are starting to get the hang of this traveling thing.
The Cougars, after dropping six of their first seven games played away from Friel Court, picked up their second consecutive road win Saturday night by blasting 19th-ranked Oregon 76-59 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,086 at McArthur Court.
They got 27 points from junior guard Shamon Antrum, 18 from Isaac Fontaine and another double-double from Mark Hendrickson, who scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Afterward, first-year coach Kevin Eastman refused to label it the biggest win of his short tenure at WSU, but it is difficult to come up with one of more importance.
“Obviously, it was a tremendous win for us,” was about as dramatic as Eastman would get.
But the implications of the victory and the resulting rare road sweep of the Oregon schools could prove huge down the line.
The win raised WSU’s record to 8-5 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 13-8 overall. More importantly, it vaulted the Cougars past the Ducks (7-5, 15-5) and into sole possession of fourth place in the league standings.
“I try to keep away from `must-win’ phrases,” said WSU point guard Donminic Ellison, who scored six points and dished out four assists. “But this was one we really needed.
“It’s a great win for us and anytime you sweep the Oregon schools on the road, you’ve got be proud of yourselves.”
By Eastman’s own admission, his team caught Oregon on a night when the basket must have looked like a thimble.
The Ducks, who came in leading the Pac-10 in scoring with an average of 81.9 points per game, missed the first six shots they took and didn’t score until Jeff Potter hit a short turnaround with just more than 3 minutes gone. It was almost another 6 minutes until Oregon scored again.
The Ducks shot only 29.1 percent (21 of 72) from the field and finished with their lowest point total of the season. They seemed hurried by WSU’s half-court defensive pressure and clanked quick-release shots from all angles and ranges.
“We’ve got to play together offensively like we do in practice,” said Oregon coach Jerry Green. “Our offense must have been a 10-second or 12-second offense.
“We did get some shots, but the shot we did get just didn’t go in. We just didn’t have a good game tonight, and they did.”
Eastman agreed.
“You have to give our defense some credit, but they just weren’t on tonight,” he said. “It was a combination of the two things.”
The Cougars denied the ball from Oregon’s high-scoring Orlando Williams most of the night and limited him to just nine shots and seven points - more than 11 points below his average.
And they kept the large crowd quiet by never letting the Ducks back in it after opening the game with a 17-2 run.
“I thought we had tremendous concentration the entire way,” Eastman said. “Which you have to have on the road. And we made it difficult for Williams to earn his points.”
Antrum and reserve Chris Griffin handled most of the defensive duties on Williams. But WSU’s front-line players made huge contributions, also, by handling Oregon’s big men with very little sagging help from the perimeter.
Henry Madden led the Ducks’ scoring with 16 points, but reserve Damon Runyon, who finished with 13 points, was the team’s only other double-figure scorer.
Still, Eastman admitted he was concerned at halftime after the Cougars managed to build only a 35-23 lead despite Oregon’s shooting woes.
“I felt they would come back with a flurry,” he said, “but we seemed to catch them on every run.”
The Ducks pulled within 37-28 early in the second half, but Antrum then scored nine consecutive points in an 11-3 run that ended most of the suspense.
The Cougars were once again impressive at the foul line, where they made 28 of 32, including the first 24 they attempted.
WSU will face Seattle Pacific in a nonconference home game Tuesday night before traveling to Seattle Saturday to take on Washington.
Washington St. 76, Oregon 59 WASHINGTON ST. (13-8)
Fontaine 6-11 6-6 18, Hendrickson 6-9 2-2 14, Mack 1-2 0-0 2, Ellison 2-5 2-2 6, Antrum 7-13 13-16 27, Griffin 1-1 0-0 2, Daniel 0-1 0-0 0, Vik 1-4 5-6 7, Warmenhoven 0-0 0-0 0, Borttica 0-0 0-0 0, Corkrum 0-2 0-0 0, Topper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 28-32 76.
OREGON (15-6)
Madden 6-13 3-6 16, Parker 1-8 0-0 2, Potter 2-8 2-2 6, Wilkins 2-11 2-3 6, O.Williams 2-9 3-4 7, Mitchell 0-4 0-0 0, Lyden 1-3 0-0 3, Lawrence 1-5 1-4 3, Sellers 1-2 1-2 3, Runyon 5-8 3-6 13, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-72 15-27 59.
Halftime-Washington St. 35, Oregon 23. 3-Point goals-Washington St. 0-6 (Fontaine 0-1, Ellison 0-2, Antrum 0-3), Oregon 2-18 (Lyden 1-1, Madden 1-2, Parker 0-3, Lawrence 0-3, Wilkins 0-4, O.Williams 0-5). Fouled out- O.Williams. Rebounds-Washington St. 46 (Hendrickson 10), Oregon 34 (Madden 8). Assists-Washington St. 11 (Ellison 4), Oregon 9 (Wilkins 3). Total fouls-Washington St. 24, Oregon 23. Technicals-Madden, Washington State bench. A-10,086.