Cougars Welcome Nit Pick Texas Tech Visits Friel Court For 9 P.M. Wednesday Opener

Not surprisingly, Washington State was left off the list of 64 invitees to the Big Dance when the NCAA announced its postseason tournament pairings Sunday.

But what little disappointment there seemed to be among WSU players was swallowed up by the excitement of being selected to host a first-round game in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Cougars, who capped a successful 16-11 regular season Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif., by storming back from a late 16-point deficit to stun California 92-89, will face Texas Tech (20-9) Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Friel Court.

The game will be televised live by ESPN.

The Red Raiders, who narrowly missed an automatic berth in the NCAA Saturday when they lost to Texas 107-104 in Saturday’s finals of the Southwest Conference tournament, are a quick, athletic bunch that offers the kind of competitive firstround matchup WSU coach Kevin Eastman was anticipating.

“I think we really have an NCAA Tournament-type game,” Eastman said Sunday night after getting his first look at the pairings for the NIT’s 32-team field that will play its semifinals and championship game at New York’s Madison Square Garden March 27 and 29.

“And, hopefully, we’ll have an NCAA Tournament-type atmosphere. This may be on the strongest NIT field in a long, long time.”

Among those in the field are Penn State and Iowa, from the Big Ten Conference; Marquette and DePaul, from the Great Midwest; New Mexico State, from the Big West; Clemson, from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Georgia, from the Southeastern Conference; Seton Hall and St. John’s, from the Big East and Colorado from the Big Eight.

“Is this the NCAA or the NIT?” Eastman asked incredulously. “This is one helluva tournament.”

Eastman admitted to knowing very little about the Red Raiders, but their starting point guard, Jason Martin, is familiar to his players.

Martin, a 5-foot-10 junior, signed with WSU out of College of Eastern Utah a little more than a year ago and was on the WSU roster at the beginning of last season. He left, however, without playing a game and transferred to Texas Tech, where he is averaging 4.9 points and 4.5 assists per game.

Martin, who grew up in Inglewood, Calif., and played on rec-league teams with WSU’s Donminic Ellison, could not be reached for comment about his “homecoming” Sunday night.

According to Texas Tech sports information director Kelly Robinson, Martin left for Los Angeles following Saturday’s loss to Texas to visit a brother who is terminally ill. Robinson said he did not know when Martin was scheduled to return or if he would even be available for Wednesday night’s game.

The Tech-WSU winner will advance to a second-round matchup against the winner of Thursday’s game between Utah State (21-7) and Illinois State (19-12), to be played either March 20 or 21 at a site to be determined.

If WSU advances, it is unlikely it would host a second-round game because of Spring Break, which starts this weekend and runs through March 26.

Still, there was a unmistakable sense of pride among Cougars players who are the first in the history of the school to make it to back-to-back postseason tournaments after last year’s trip to the NCAA.

“One thing you find out, as I experienced my sophomore year, is it’s fun to keep playing when a lot of teams are sitting and watching on TV,” junior forward Mark Hendrickson said. “I went through a tough year my freshman year and had to do that.”

Ellison, a sophomore point guard, said a quality opponent like the Red Raiders will help motivate his team.

“Texas Tech gives us great matchups, in my opinion,” he said. “All I want to do, basically, is get another practice, just to get better.”

Hot ticket

Tickets for Wednesday’s game will go on sale this morning, WSU officials announced.

Prices will range from $4 for student tickets to $12 for reserved seat. General admission tickets will be $8. Seat designations will remain the same as during the regular season.

Season-ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets for their normal seats by contacting the WSU ticket office before 5 this afternoon. After that their reserved seats can be purchased by the general public.

For more information, call 1-800-GO COUGS.