Gray Matter Aside, Cougars Face Red Alert
Beating 25th-ranked California and Ed Gray was one thing. Staying within double digits at No. 15 Arizona is quite another.
This is not news to Washington State, which is rightfully concerned as it braces for tonight’s Pacific-10 Conference basketball game at merciless McKale Center.
WSU has lost 11 straight here, by an average of 18 points. Loosely translated, that means, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?”
If the Cougars (12-14, 4-10 Pac-10) are to make this visit less painful, they figure to need a performance at least as valiant as their last, when they overcame Gray’s 48-point barrage to beat Cal 89-87.
“It’s going to be a real, real, hard, hard game for us,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that.
“But hopefully we go in there with a little more confidence because of our win over Cal.”
That victory was important not only because it snapped a five-game losing streak, but because freshmen Chris Crosby (18 points) and Blake Pengelly (14) played critical roles in the outcome.
Both needed a boost heading into tonight’s rematch with the Wildcats (17-7, 9-5), who overwhelmed WSU’s freshmen in beating the Cougars 87-78 last month.
Pengelly, a 5-foot-9 point guard, was hassled into six turnovers in last month’s encounter, and had little time to regroup because senior starter Kareem Jackson was ill.
Pengelly has played much better since that game, however, and even leads the Pac-10 in 3-point shooting percentage (49.2). He hit four 3s in the 89-87 victory over Cal, then provided the game-winning assist in the final seconds.
But Pengelly has been unable to crack the starting lineup, even if Jackson is averaging a mere 2.5 points on 27 percent shooting.
Fontaine’s favorite
WSU senior guard Isaac Fontaine averages 21.2 points per game against Arizona, his highest average against a Pac-10 school, although he is 0-7 against the Wildcats. Fontaine scored 32 points in last month’s meeting, more than any UA opponent has scored this year.
, DataTimes