Arizona To WSU Crowd: Bring It On
Building a large, vocal and downright nasty following of Washington State fans was a top priority for Kelvin Sampson throughout his seven-year tenure as the Cougars’ head coach.
Now, less than a year after Sampson’s departure to Oklahoma, it appears he succeeded.
Attendance and noise are up at Friel Court of late. Last Saturday, nearly half of the 7,900 who showed up at Hec Edmunson Pavilion in Seattle to witness Washington’s 78-72 upset of WSU were cheering for the Cougars.
But there are indications that WSU fans, no matter how unfriendly they might seem, have become a source of inspiration for opposing players.
“They (the Cougars) had too many fans here and we looked at that as a sign of disrespect,” UW freshman Mark Sanford said last Saturday after scoring 17 points in the Huskies’ win. “We told ourselves we were not going to let Wazzu beat us at Hec Ed anymore.”
And now comes Arizona’s Joseph Blair, claiming that WSU’s home crowd is one of the reasons the Wildcats have won 19 in a row over the Cougars, including eight straight on the road.
By contrast, the Wildcats are 1-4 in their last four games at Washington, where the Huskies have averaged less than 3,500 the past four seasons.
“At Washington State, we really get into it. The crowd starts talking about you and it gets you motivated and excited,” said Blair, who will start at center for the 12th-ranked Wildcats when they invade Friel Court Thursday for a 9 p.m. matchup that will be televised nationally by ESPN. “You go to Washington, they cheer for you.”
Ed O’Bannon’s biggest fan
UCLA coach Jim Harrick continues to sing the praises of senior forward Ed O’Bannon, who scored a career-high 37 points Sunday to lead the top-ranked Bruins to a 100-77 rout of Duke.
O’Bannon is making a strong stretch run for College Player of the Year honors, and Harrick has started putting the whip to anyone who will listen.
“In five straight games, he’s raised the level of his game far beyond what he’s played here,” Harrick said of the 6-foot-8, 220-pounder, who has averaged 27.8 points and nine rebounds in the Bruins’ last five games. “He’s our foundation. It’s hard to convince me he’s not the best college player in America.
“Of course, back East, they still think we have covered wagons out here.”
Jeers
Perhaps the most innovative chant to emerge from UCLA’s student cheering section during Saturday’s win over Duke was that of, “N-O-T! N-O-T!” - a not-so-subtle dig at the Blue Devils’ dwindling chances of even earning a National Invitation Tournament berth.
3-pointers
Oregon assistant coach Bobby Braswell ruptured his right achilles tendon during a postgame celebration of Saturday’s 73-72 lastsecond win over Arizona State. … Arizona’s Damon Stoudamire has made 24 consecutive free throws, but is still well short of the Pac-10 record of 41 set by Stanford’s Todd Lichti in 1989. … Barry Tompkins will do the play-byplay and Paul Sunderland will provide color commentary for ESPN’s Thursday night telecast of the Arizona-WSU game from Friel Court. … Arizona State has won 20 regularseason games for the first time since 1980-81.