Stymied Cougars Fail Gut Check WSU’S Chances Take Swing For The Worse After Angry Foul Ducks 77 Cougars 64

The frustration became too much for Washington State’s Kojo Mensah-Bonsu.

So he swung his fist at Chris Christoffersen’s gut. He wasn’t ejected. The referees called an intentional foul instead.

But, make no mistake, it was a swing and it swung a game that had been close into a 77-64 win for Oregon at McArthur Court on Thursday night.

A five-point Oregon lead became 14 in 6 minutes.

A dormant McArthur Court crowd came to life.

A chance for the Cougars’ first Pac-10 win on the road became lost in a din of noise and confusion.

“That turned it big time,” said WSU’s Jan-Michael Thomas. “There are certain plays that we just don’t need. And we need to think about that.”

“It helped us out,” agreed Oregon’s Darius Wright, who finished with a game-high 19 points. “You know we get the free throws, then we get the ball, and things start going for us.”

Things began to unravel for Mensah-Bonsu and the Cougars with 6:07 left in the first half.

The WSU senior fell on his own free-throw line and Christoffersen - a freshman reserve who averages 4 minutes a game - was standing over him, not allowing him to get off the floor.

Mensah-Bonsu made it to his feet. As Christoffersen was backing away, Mensah-Bonsu, who has picked up several technical fouls this year, swung his fist.

From there, the Ducks went on a 12-5 run. And the Cougars (9-14 overall, 3-9 Pac-10) stumbled into halftime with a 41-27 disadvantage.

But Mensah-Bonsu wasn’t the only Cougar to blame for the turn of events in the first half. The entire offense proved to be inept during the first 20 minutes.

“The first half, they went on their run, we’d sit there and we’d go down and jack it up. Quick shot,” said Steve Slotemaker. “Or like I’d sit there and hold the ball while everybody’s making their cuts and I’d be too selfish to give it up to them when they were open.”

Slotemaker wasn’t the only one holding the ball. No one was running the offense to perfection. At times, the Cougars offense looked like some highway road crews one guy working, four others standing and watching.

“We did that too in the first half,” agreed Slotemaker. “People were just standing because the person with the ball was going to do something with it.”

The stagnant offense led to the Cougars shooting 23 percent in the first half. For the game, WSU shot a season-low 25 percent for the game.

At the start of the second half, it only got worse for the Cougars. Oregon, which has now won two straight for the first time this Pac-10 season, pushed out to a 22-point lead with 10 minutes left.

The Cougars were unable to handle the ball on offense and couldn’t slow the Ducks in transition. Alex Scales, who finished with 12, was beating the Cougars down the floor and being rewarded with dunks.

Foul trouble further hampered the Cougars. Eddie Miller picked up his fourth 1 minute into the second half. His replacement, Slotemaker, got his fourth at the 17:23 mark. Mensah-Bonsu joined them with four at the 12:02 mark.

“We’re undersized in there,” said Slotemaker. “And when you are undersized you are going to reach, and they are going to call that. What we have to do is use our quickness and get around them.”

But the whistles were not just blowing in Oregon’s favor. In fact, from the 12:17 mark to the 3:39 mark, 13 possessions resulted in free-throw attempts - three in field goals. In all there were 59 fouls called.

Midway through the second half the only real fun for the 7,975 in attendance was to count the number of fouls rather than the points being scored.

“That’s 49. That’s 50. That’s 51” were familiar chants by the Oregon students directed at ref Jerry White.

Oregon 77, Washington St 64

Washington St. (9-14, 3-9) - Bush 3-7 4-4 10, Mensah-Bonsu 3-13 6-6 12, Miller 1-5 4-4 6, Thomas 2-12 5-8 10, Kazadi 0-2 0-0 2, Pengelly 1-3 0-0 3, Crosby 3-7 2-4 9, Stewart 1-3 4-6 6, Slotemaker 1-3 2-5 4, Hutchens 0-1 1-2 1, Nelson 0-3 3-4 3. Totals 15-59, 31-43 64.

Oregon (12-9, 4-8) - Smith 5-11 1-2 12, Scales 4-8 3-5 12, Carson 1-2 6-8 8, Wright 4-8 7-8 19, Brown 1-7 3-7 5, Harker 0-0 0-2 0, Rosemond 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 5-8 3-4 14, Christofferson 0-2 2-2 2, Hartenstein 1-2 3-5 4. Totals 21-48 28-043 77.

Halftime-Oregon 41, Washington St. 27. 3-Point goals-Washington St. 3-13 (Thomas 1-9, Pengelly 1-3, Crosby 1-1). Oregon 7-17 (Wright 4-5, Scales 1-2, Smith 1-4, Jones 1-4.) Fouled out-Washington St. Thomas and Mensah-Bonsu. Rebounds-Washington St. 39. (Mensah-Bonsu 8). Oregon 44 (Smith 10). Assists-Washington St. 5 (Bush 3). Oregon 13 (Brown 5). Total fouls-Washington St. 31. Oregon 28. A-7,975.