Hendrickson Isn’t Enough Senior’s Solid Return For Cougars Still Can’t Overcome No. 25 Cal

Freshman sensation Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 32 points and pulled down 18 rebounds Thursday night at Friel Court, helping 25th-ranked California spoil the return of Washington State’s Mark Hendrickson with an 87-79 men’s basketball win over the Cougars.

A crowd of nearly 6,500 turned out to cheer WSU and Hendrickson, who played for the first time since breaking his left hand a month ago.

The 6-foot-9 senior, sporting a heavily padded tape job on his tender hand, showed few ill effects of either the injury or the layoff in scoring a season-high 27 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

But Cal, despite the absence of point guard Jelani Gardner, who missed the trip because of illness, still had too much depth and balance to allow Hendrickson’s emotional comeback to figure in the outcome.

The loss was WSU’s fifth in sixth games and dropped the Cougars to 1-5 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 8-6 overall. Cal (6-1 and 11-5) remained tied with UCLA for the league lead.

Hendrickson, who was greeted by a huge ovation when he was announced as a starter, asserted himself early by snatching 10 first-half rebounds and scoring seven points.

The Cougars also shot the ball well from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, but were still down 42-37 at intermission, thanks to Cal’s 12-for-14 effort from the free-throw line.

The Golden Bears opened the second half with an inspired run, built a 63-53 lead and then survived a personal foul festival in the final five minutes.

Twenty-nine free throws were shot during that stretch as the officials tried to keep control of an physical, intense game that never really developed much of a rythym.

All told, 51 fouls were called, but only two players were disqualified - WSU’s Isaac Fontaine and Carlos Daniel.

The Golden Bears, who also got 25 points from backup guard Ed Gray, won the game from the foul line, hitting 28 of 38 free throws. WSU made just 14 of 25.

Abdur-Rahim was 12-for-21 from the field and 8-for-12 from the foul line. During one five-minute stretch of the second half, the 6-foot-10 forward, from Mariettea, Ga., scored 10 consecutive points for the Bears. WSU was making a mild run at the time, but because of Adbur-Rahim’s inside production, it could get no closer than 63-58.

“We just couldn’t stop the big guy,” Cougars coach Kevin Eastman said of Abdur-Rahim. “I’ve only been here two years, but he’s the best I’ve seen - in the Pac-10 and outside the Pac-10.”

Hendrickson, who said he felt no pain in his injured hand, played 35 minutes - much to the surprise of Eastman.

“We didn’t know he would be able to play that much,” Eastman said. “We made an extremely conscious effort to take him out about 30 seconds before every TV timeout … and I think that saved him.

“But that’s Mark.”

WSU’s chances of coming back were seriously damaged when Fontaine, the Cougars’ leading scorer, picked up his fifth foul with 4:36 remaining. Fontaine had only 10 points, but his departure left Hendrickson as the only go-to scorer.

Hendrickson, working hard down low, put in 10 of his team’s 12 points during one 2-minute span and helped cut Cal’s lead to 79-75 with 36 seconds left. But the Bears hit a couple of free throws and scored on a breakaway dunk by Tremain Fowlkes to make the final victory margin deceiving.

“I’m extremely proud of my team. I thought down the stretch we showed some real mental toughness,” said Cal coach Todd Bozeman. “Obviously, Shareef did a great job. He rebounded the way he should rebound every game, but our guards aren’t getting enough credit for their defense.”

Cal’s perimeter pressure limited WSU point guard Donminic Ellison to four points and shut down Shamon Antrum in the second half. The senior shooting guard scored 12 of his 16 points prior to intermission.

Fowlkes, the freshman of the year in the Pac-10 last season, played for the first time after serving a 14-game suspension for his involvement with an alleged sports agent over the summer.

He finished with 12 points.

WSU will play at home again on Saturday when Stanford, a 74-71 loser to Washington on Thursday night, invades Friel Court for a 3 p.m. Pac-10 matchup.

Cal travels to Seattle for a Saturday afternoon game against UW.

California 87, Washington St. 79

California (11-4) - Abdur-Rahim 12-21 8-12 32, Fowlkes 4-8 3-4 12, Stewart 1-1 0-0 2, McGruder 0-4 2-3 2, Duck 0-2 0-0 0, McQueen 2-3 0-0 5, Gray 7-17 10-12 25, Gonzales 2-4 3-4 7, Jones 0-1 2-3 2. Totals 28-61 28-38 87.

Washington St. (8-6) - Hendrickson 8-18 10-14 27, Daniel 6-9 0-2 12, Fontaine 4-7 1-2 10, Antrum 6-14 1-1 16, Ellison 2-12 0-1 4, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Scott 1-4 2-5 4, Mack 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 30-69 14-25 79.

Halftime-California 42, Washington St. 37. 3-Point goals- California 3-9 (McQueen 1-1, Fowlkes 1-2, Gray 1-3, Abdur-Rahim 0-1, McGruder 0-1, Duck 0-1), Washington St. 5-15 (Antrum 3-6, Fontaine 1-2, Hendrickson 1-2, Jackson 0-1, Ellison 0-2, Scott 0-2). Fouled out-Daniel, Fontaine, Scott. Rebounds-California 51 (Abdur-Rahim 18), Washington St. 36 (Hendrickson 14). Assists- California 7 (McGruder 3), Washington St. 13 (Ellison 7). Total fouls-California 23, Washington St. 28. A-9,123.

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