Old Rival Helps Age UI Coach

When Idaho basketball coach Kermit Davis turned 30 on Dec. 14, 1989, he celebrated with a 56-52 victory over Washington State.

Seven years and several change-of-address forms later, Davis is back for another party, although under entirely different circumstances.

“Times have changed now, I’m telling you,” Davis said Thursday, two days before his 37th birthday and, coincidentally, his team’s Saturday afternoon visit to Friel Court.

“The last time we played WSU, it was my birthday and it was on ESPN. Kelvin (Sampson) was nice to me and he let me have a win.”

Idaho’s 1989 victory was one of four straight over WSU from 1987-90.

“We had more talent than Kelvin, but they were always tough, hard games,” said Davis, who is 2-0 against the Cougars.

And while much has changed since then - Davis took three jobs before returning to Idaho this year, and WSU hired Kevin Eastman after Sampson left for Oklahoma in 1994 - the rivalry remains competitive.

WSU has won three straight since Eastman took over, but Idaho won the previous two.

The series dates to Jan. 14, 1906, when the Vandals, reportedly sparked by a 2-0 run early in the second half, routed the Cougars 28-11. WSU regrouped over the next several decades, however, and leads the series 145-105.

This year’s game figures to be a contrast in styles. The Vandals (3-3) have more quickness, WSU (5-1) more size.

“I think they’re playing the best way for their personnel right now,” Eastman said. “They can put a really quick perimeter lineup out there - they can be jet-quick.”

Point guard Derrick Elliott may be the quickest.

“Other than Kenya Wilkins (of Oregon) and Brevin Knight (of Stanford), Elliott can probably speed-dribble it as quick as we’re going to see this year,” Eastman said.

While Idaho has shown recent improvement, winning at Idaho State last week, WSU is searching for answers after settling into a malaise that proved costly in Tuesday night’s 71-65 loss at Montana.

After a disappointing end to Thursday’s practice, the Cougars held a players-only meeting. Whether they found any answers probably won’t be known until sometime after Saturday’s 3 p.m. tipoff.

Mack update

WSU forward Tavares Mack remains suspended and will not play Saturday, but Eastman said Mack wants to rejoin the team.

The 6-foot-9 senior was suspended after missing a Dec. 1 practice and telling Eastman he had lost interest in basketball. The two have been in contact almost daily since then and are scheduled to talk today, Eastman said.

“He’s changed his mind in terms of wanting to come back,” Eastman said, “but he’s wanted to come back two other times, too, so we can’t forget the history.”

Mack’s status won’t be resolved until after next week’s final exams, Eastman said.

“He has to take care of some academic things and he has to prove to everybody that he truly does want to play,” the coach said.

Tough breaks

The broken bone epidemic currently afflicting the West Coast Conference has left three of the league’s most promising players sidelined indefinitely.

Along with Gonzaga’s senior center Paul Rogers, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a fracture in his right foot, Portland’s Kweemada King and Saint Mary’s David Sivulich have also been shelved because of bad breaks.

King, the MVP of last year’s WCC Tournament, is wearing a cast to protect a broken metatarsal in his left foot. His status was expected to be updated later this week.

Sivulich, the Gaels’ leading scorer (16.2 ppg), broke a bone in his left (non-shooting) hand and will be lost for at least four weeks.

UI-WSU revisited

The Vandals are down to nine players after Marcus Wallace was kicked off the team Wednesday for academic shortcomings… . WSU freshman wing Steve Slotemaker continues to be weakened with flu-like symptoms. He practiced Thursday, but a blood test has been scheduled to identify the illness. Senior forward Cameron Johnson has also been ill, but appears to be getting stronger… . Through six games, WSU point guard Kareem Jackson has committed just three turnovers while leading the Cougars with 26 assists. “He doesn’t gamble,” Eastman said, “and I think that’s OK. Because I think we have enough gamblers. We want him driving to the basket more, but he’s feeling his way. He didn’t practice or play much last year.”

Around the leagues

Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. non-conference matchup between Montana and Gonzaga at Martin Centre will be televised live on Fox Sports Northwest, with KXLY-TV’s Dennis Patchin handling play-by-play and former WSU assistant coach Dave Harshman providing color commentary… . UCLA is 1-2 for the second straight season. Last year, the Bruins recovered to win the Pacific-10 Conference title by three games… . So far this season, Pepperdine is shooting only .411 from the free-throw line - the same percentage WCC rival Saint Mary’s is shooting from 3-point range… . Prized Arizona recruit Stephen Jackson, who has failed his college-entrance exams repeatedly, will reportedly retake the ACT in a last-ditch effort to become eligible for next season… . Arizona freshman point guard Mike Bibby has more steals than turnovers this season.

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