Cougs Find Own Way To Beat Ducks

Sometimes a coach has to check his ego - along with his X’s and O’s - at the door and just let his players play.

That’s what Washington State’s Kevin Eastman decided to do at halftime of Thursday night’s Pacific-10 game against 17th-ranked Oregon, and the strategy paid off as his Cougars came from 12 points down to upset the Ducks 83-78.

Isaac Fontaine and Mark Hendrickson combined for 52 points and point guard Donminic Ellison, coming off a one-game suspension for missing curfew on last week’s road trip to Los Angeles, added 11 points and seven assists as the Cougars raised their Pac-10 record to 3-2 and their overall mark to 7-5.

Orlando Williams, perhaps the sweetest shooter in the conference, scored 27 points to match Fontaine for scoring honors, but he couldn’t prevent the Ducks from suffering their first conference loss in four games and slipping to 11-2 overall.

WSU’s win, witnessed by 7,093 fans, was its ninth in a row at Friel Court, dating back to last year and snapped a two-game losing streak.

“It was the first time this year where we’ve been able to climb back from a halftime deficit,” Cougar coach Kevin Eastman said. “Our guys just got it done. There were a few adjustments that were made, but they certainly didn’t have the same bearing as the players just going out and finding ways.”

The Cougars failed to match Oregon’s aggressiveness in the first half and found themselves down 34-22 shortly after Eastman was whistled for a technical foul and Williams, who had been fouled just before the technical, made four consecutive free throws.

But WSU stepped up the intensity at that point, went to the foul line three times and made five of six free throws in the final 53 seconds of the half to close to within 34-27.

After intermission, Eastman turned his players loose to take advantage of their edge in athleticism. The Cougars started putting the ball on the floor more frequently and driving to the basket.

That created some easy baskets - and some spectacular ones, especially from Fontaine, who was an acrobatic marvel at times while scoring 18 of his points in the second half.

Hendrickson, who also had 11 rebounds, scored 19 of his 25 points after intermission.

“What an intense game,” Eastman said. “If you can’t get excited about that game, then you’re dead.”

The Cougars, who scored only eight points in the first 11 minutes of the game, didn’t catch the Ducks until Fontaine drained a 3-pointer from the right wing with 13:22 left. That made it 47-46, Cougars, and set the stage for some bizarre happenings down the stretch.

The strangest came with just under two minutes left and WSU leading 73-72. With the shot clock running down, Fontaine drove down the lane and attempted a scoop shot that fell short of the rim before being deflected out of bounds.

The officials originally awarded the ball to WSU with 1 second left on the shot clock, but Oregon coach Jerry Green argued that the clock had expired.

The officials checked the replay on the courtside television monitor and while watching, apparently concluded that Fontaine’s shot had hit the rim.

A different angle showed otherwise, but the Cougars were awarded the ball out of bounds with a new 35 seconds on the shot clock. On the ensuing inbounds play, Hendrickson broke loose and scored on a monster dunk to put WSU up 75-72.

Oregon travels to Seattle to face Washington on Saturday. The Cougars entertain Oregon State at 1 p.m.

Washington St. 83, Oregon 78 OREGON (11-2)

Potter 4-8 5-6 13, Parker 1-5 0-0 2, Sellers 3-5 3-6 9, O.Williams 7-15 8-8 27, Wilkins 2-8 2-6 7, Mitchell 0-0 1-2 1, Madden 4-9 0-0 11, B.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Lyden 1-2 0-0 3, Lawrence 0-1 0-0 0, Runyon 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 24-59 20-30 78.

WASHINGTON ST. (7-5)

Hendrickson 7-8 11-13 25, Daniel 1-2 1-2 3, Fontaine 11-18 2-3 27, Antrum 0-4 3-6 3, Ellison 4-12 0-0 11, Griffin 2-5 0-1 5, Corkrum 0-0 0-0 0, Vik 0-0 0-0 0, Mack 4-4 1-3 9. Totals 29-53 18-28 83.

Halftime-Oregon 34, Washington St. 27. 3-Point goals- Oregon 10-24 (O.Williams 5-11, Madden 3-4, Lyden 1-2, Wilkins 1-4, Parker 0-1, Lawrence 0-1, Johnson 0-1), Washington St. 7-14 (Fontaine 3-4, Ellison 3-5, Griffin 1-2, Antrum 0-3). Fouled out- Sellers. Rebounds-Oregon 36 (Parker 9), Washington St. 31 (Hendrickson 11). Assists-Oregon 11 (Wilkins 4), Washington St. 16 (Ellison 7). Total fouls-Oregon 26, Washington St 21. Technicals-Washington St. coach Eastman, Sellers. A-7,903.