Golden Bears Run Away From Listless Cougars

This was the one of those uninspired, disjointed performances best reserved for the road, so as not to offend the local clientele.

Washington State’s least energized performance of the season came at home Saturday night, where a restless Friel Court crowd of 4,952 waited and waited for the big run that never came.

The result, an 86-75 loss to California, left the Cougars (8-10) with a 1-6 record in the Pacific-10 Conference - on the eve of consecutive road

trips through Los Angeles and Arizona.

WSU forward Carlos Daniel, who led the Cougars with 17 points and nine rebounds, welcomed the opportunity to get away.

“That’s exactly what we need,” Daniel theorized. “At home, it’s easier to be lackadaisical because you feel like the fans are going to get you up for the game.”

The Cougars needed more than the home crowd against Cal, which used a 19-4 run early in the second half to build a 52-37 lead with 12 minutes remaining.

“It’s crazy, because it’s been like that the whole year to start the second half,” WSU wing Chris Crosby said. “We’re down two or tied at the half, we come out and after the first 5 minutes we look up and we’re down 10.

“And we spend the rest of the half trying to get back into the game.”

Guard Thomas Kilgore had 21 points and eight assists to lead the Bears (7-8, 3-4). He consistently beat the Cougars for transition layups, especially once WSU was forced to press in the final minutes.

“The quickness disparity was probably its largest of the year that I’ve noticed,” WSU coach Kevin Eastman said. “Arizona can put some quickness on you, but we were the aggressor in that game and it wasn’t a factor quite as much.”

The Cougars pulled as close as 56-50 with 8:42 left as Cal committed turnovers on six of seven possessions during a 3-minute span. That made for some tense moments on the Cal bench, but second-year coach Ben Braun wasn’t about to complain.

“We haven’t been in that position very often, with a double-digit lead,” said Braun, who is facing a rebuilding season after guiding the Bears into the Sweet 16 last year. “It was a learning experience for us. But I’d always rather have a lead.”

Geno Carlisle added 16 points for Cal, including two devastating 3-pointers. The first, with 4:51 remaining, stretched Cal’s lead to 71-56. The second, with 1:45 left, extended the lead to 76-65 and ended any chance for a miracle comeback.

For WSU, the problems were all too familiar.

Crosby, who made just 2 of 16 field goals in Thursday night’s loss to Stanford, made just 3 of 13 against Cal.

“If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn’t be talking about it right now,” Crosby said. “I don’t know. Everyone goes through it. Unfortunately, we’re going through it at a bad time - especially me.”

Crosby wasn’t the only suspect.

Guard Kab Kazadi hit just 4 of 13 from the field, although he made a string of late free throws en route to a career-high 17 points.

Point guard Blake Pengelly, meanwhile, scored eight of his 14 points in the final 1:18, after spending most of the game in pursuit of Kilgore and Carlisle.

The teams combined for just 26 turnovers, but the game featured enough fouls, tipped passes and errant shots to keep anyone from mistaking it for art. The teams combined to shoot 61 free throws.

“It was frustrating,” Carlisle said. Particularly for WSU. The Cougars made just 6 of 20 3-pointers and were outrebounded 27-12 in the second half.

“We were never in the basketball game,” Eastman said. “I think it goes to show that when our basketball team is not emotionally charged, it’s going to be difficult for us to perform. That was so evident tonight.”

Cal played without starting forward Michael Gill, who aggravated an abdominal muscle against the Huskies.

California 86, Washington St. 75

California (7-8) - R. Jones 2-4 1-2 5, K. Jones 3-7 0-1 6, Marks 3-9 1-2 7, Kilgore 8-14 4-6 21, Carlisle 3-9 7-8 16, King 2-2 6-7 2-10, Lampley 3-3 5-6 11, Elson 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 28-55 26-34 86.

Washington St. (8-10) - Daniel 6-13 5-7 17, Crosby 3-13 2-2 9, Nelson 1-5 0-0 2, Pengelly 5-10 0-2 14, Kazadi 4-13 9-10 17, Hutchens 0-0 0-0 0, Mensah-Bonsu 2-7 1-4 5, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Slotemaker 4-7 2-2 11. Totals 25-68 19-27 75.

Halftime-California 31, Washington St. 29. 3-Point goals- California 4-11 (Carlisle 3-6, Kilgore 1-3, R. Jones 0-1), Washington St. 6-20 (Pengelly 4-8, Crosby 1-5, Slotemaker 1-2, Kazadi 0-5). Fouled out-California, K. Jones, Elson; Washington St., Slotemaker. Rebounds-California 44 (Marks 12), Washington St. 35 (Daniel 9). Assists-California 11 (Kilgore 8), Washington St. 9 (Pengelly, Kazadi 3). Total fouls-California 26, Washington St. 23. Technicals-California, Elson. A-4,952.

, DataTimes