Cougars Turn Tide On Idaho Crosby’S 38-Point Barrage For WSU Steals Show After Abortive Slam Dunk Reverses Momentum Cougars 84 Vandals 69

It should have been so simple.

A breakaway dunk. Make it and Idaho pulls within one of Washington State with 12 minutes to go.

Miss it. The momentum is gone. The bench beckons.

Kaniel Dickens, who tried to turn simple into spectacular with a windmill jam, missed it.

The momentum turned immediately. The bench did indeed beckon.

And the Vandals wound up with a 84-69 loss to the Cougars in the Kibbie Dome on Sunday night. With the victory, the Cougars (5-4) rantheir winning streak to four games.

“That was a dumb play,” said Idaho guard Avery Curry, who had a team-high 22. “Stupid. A two would have helped us.

“In practice, he probably misses 8 out of 10 of those,” he continued. “Then to do it in the game is just stupid.”

“That was the last critical point we had to be competitive in the game,” added Idaho coach Dave Farrar, whose team fell to 4-4.

Mainly because WSU’s Chris Crosby wasn’t missing from anywhere. The junior was 9 of 10 on 3-pointers and scored a career-high 38 points, the most scored by anyone in the Pac-10 this season. The most since Isaac Fontaine had 38 in 1995 against Arizona.

And the most 3-pointers since Bennie Seltzer lit up Stanford for nine in 1993. And right after Dickens missed, Crosby nailed a 3-pointer right in Dickens’ face to stretch the lead to six at 55-49. The Vandals would never get any closer.

“That was important right there,” said Crosby of his 3-pointer.

“That missed dunk was big,” he continued. “If he would have made that, the place would have erupted.”

But instead, the Kibbie Dome remained silent as Crosby hit jumper after jumper and the Vandals missed free throw after free throw. (Idaho missed 7 of 8 free throws following the missed dunk).

“I’ve never seen anybody come out and shoot like that,” said Curry. “He was the best man on the court tonight.”

“He looked close to perfect to me,” added WSU’s Mike Bush.

“I felt relaxed tonight,” said Crosby. “And when I feel relaxed, I know I’m going to play good.

“After that first shot, I knew it was going to be a good night.”

That first shot came quickly as Washington State jumped out to a 17-2 lead. Idaho was having trouble breaking the press, had seven turnovers in the first 7 minutes and could never catch up with Crosby and Jan-Michael Thomas as they came over their screens.

The Vandals were able to battle back to cut it to four at half, 39-35. And tied the game at 39.

But Crosby scored the Cougars first eight points of the half and pushed WSU back into the lead.

“I felt like we were a poorly coached team,” said Farrar. “We gave Crosby a career night. You allow that many opportunities to a guy that is having a night like that then you pretty much get what you deserve.”

The Vandals big guns, Curry and Gordon Scott, proved too ineffective for most of the game. While Curry did score 22, he was 8 of 18 and never got a good look at the basket.

“We did a nice job of not letting him get consistently comfortable with his game,” said WSU coach Kevin Eastman.

Scott, who came into the game averaging 17 point per game, was 2 of 8 from the field and ended with nine points.

Idaho will play Gonzaga Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Martin Centre. Washington State will next play UTEP in the Sun Classic in El Paso, Texas on Dec. 28.

Washington St. 84, Idaho 69

Washington St. (5-4) - Bush 3-5 7-10 14, Mensah-Bonsu 5-14 3-9 13, Crosby 13-17 3-3 38, Pengelly 0-2 0-1 0, Thomas 3-11 2-2 11, Kazadi 1-1 0-0 2, Stewart 1-2 0-0 2, Hutchens 1-3 0-0 2, Miller 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-57 15-25 84.

Idaho (4-4) - Dickens 3-7 0-2 6, Byrne 2-3 4-5 8, Scott 2-8 4-6 9 , Toal 0-4 2-6 2, Banks 3-8 3-4 10, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Curry 8-18 6-7 24, Jackson 2-3 0-2 4, Ford 2-4 2-3 6. Totals 22-56 21-35 69.

Halftime-Washington St. 39, Idaho 35. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 13-24 (Bush 1-2, Crosby 9-10, Pengelly 0-2, Thomas 3-10), Idaho 4-17 (Dickens 0-1, Scott 1-5, Toal 0-2, Banks 1-1, Miller 0-1, Curry 2-6, Ford 0-1). Fouled out-Kazadi, Banks. Rebounds-Washington St. 32 (Mensah-Bonsu 10), Idaho 45 (Dickens 11). Assists-Washington St. 12 (Pengelly 5), Idaho 8 (Curry 3). Total fouls-Washington St. 26, Idaho 21. A-5,143.