Cougars Win Pac-10 Opener

Washington State’s second-leading scorer Jan-Michael Thomas is not supposed to go without a basket for 39 minutes.

Washington’s All-American Todd MacCulloch is not supposed to have more fouls (5) than points (2).

And most of all, the Cougars are not supposed to beat the Huskies. At least that’s what most thought.

But with 3 seconds left, Thomas hit a game-winning, 23-foot 3-pointer, his only field goal of the game, and sent the Huskies packing, 72-71, and the players and Cougars fans into pandemonium. The win, Washington State’s first in a Pac-10 opener since 1994-95, pushed the Cougars to 7-5 and 1-0. The Huskies fell to 7-4, 0-1.

So much for what’s supposed to happen.

But who would have thought a team that lost six games on the last possession last season and very nearly let close games against Portland State and BYU this year slip away, would have had the resolve to win what senior Kojo Mensah-Bonsu called the biggest game of his WSU career?

Well, the players and coach.

“I knew we were going to win,” said freshman Mike Bush, who had a career-high 14 points. “I just knew it the whole game. Whether it was going to be a shot at the end or we get a steal, I just knew we were going to win.”

Thomas, who was averaging 14.7 points per game but had missed his only three shots until the game winner (he’d made two free throws), never lost confidence either.

“It’s not a big deal to me to go 39 minutes and 58 seconds without scoring. As long as I stay confident within myself, I know I can do it,” the junior said. “I can go out and miss six in a row and still believe I’m going to make the next one.”

Especially if he sets it up like he did against the Huskies.

After Senque Carey converted on one of two free throws to give Washington a 71-69 lead with 10.3 seconds left. The Cougars were without a time out, but Kevin Eastman had set up a 3-point play, just before Carey’s foul shot.

The play he got wasn’t the one he drew up.

Point guard Blake Pengelly had the ball at the top of the circle. Thomas, who goes through last-second possession situations in practice with the point guard, came over the top of Pengelly. He took the handoff and recognized that Washington’s Dan Dickau was switching off to guard him.

“He actually hit my elbow a little bit,” said Thomas of the final shot. “So I had to adjust at the end.

“I thought maybe I was going to get the call but I didn’t,” he continued. “But I guess it was game time. So I held it a little bit longer before I shot it. Then it went in.”

“Yeah, swish,” added Bush. The Huskies tried a desperation play, as Donald Watts streaked to the other end of the floor and tried to pull down a 75-foot inbound pass from Carey. He got the ball but was unable to come up with the shot.

The play was typical in a game that was marred by fouls (60) and turnovers (41), most of which were committed by the Huskies.

The Cougars, whose last win over Washington was a 76-66 victory in 1996, knew they would have to get the 7-footer MacCulloch out of the game early. Eastman started Steve Slotemaker, a 6-9 shooting forward, to try and pull MacCulloch away from the bucket.

Washington coach Bob Bender countered by keeping MacCulloch on the inside against the 6-5 Mensah-Bonsu.

Mensah-Bonsu went after MacCulloch with drives on the first two possessions, but failed to draw a foul. Slotemaker, on the other hand, was able to draw a charge on MacCulloch on the defensive end. The Husky senior, who was averaging 18.9 points and 11 boards coming into the game, picked up his second foul on a Mensah-Bonsu follow at the 16:38 mark and sat the rest of the first half. “Those two quick fouls really took him out of his game mentally,” said Bender. “I wasn’t in the game long enough to get comfortable,” added MacCulloch, who hadn’t fouled out in 49 games.

He picked up his third foul 30 seconds into the second half and was never a factor. Still the Cougars were unable to stop Donald Watts and Deon Luton, who combined for 37 points, and were staring at an eight-point deficit with 5 minutes left. But Pengelly knocked down a three.

Wash. St. 72, Washington 71

Washington (7-4) - Luton 7-11 6-8 23, Dickau 1-2 0-0 2, MacCulloch 1-2 0-0 2, Clark 2-4 1-6 6, Watts 3-6 7-10 14, Carey 0-3 5-8 5, Green 4-7 0-0 8, Leep 0-4 1-2 1, Brown 0-1 2-2 2, Walcott 2-3 0-0 4, Johnson 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 22-45 22-36 71.

Washington St. (7-5) - Pengelly 2-2 0-0 6, Thomas 1-4 2-2 5, Slotemaker 2-7 2-2 8, Mensah-Bonsu 7-16 5-8 19, Crosby 2-12 4-5 8, Kazadi 1-3 2-2 4, Huchens 0-0 2-2 2, Bush 6-14 1-1 14, Miller 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 23-61 20-24 72.

Halftime-Washington State 41, Washington 38. 3-Point goals-Washington 5-10 (Luton 3-5, Dickau 0-1, Clark 1-2, Watts 1-1, Carey 0-1). Washington State 6-18 (Pengelly 2-2, Thomas 1-4, Slotemaker 2-3, Crosby 0-5, Kazadi 0-1, Bush 1-3). Fouled out-MacCullouch. Rebounds-Washington 36 (Watts, Carey 6), Washington State 33 (Mensah-Bonsu 10). Assists-Washington 13 (Watts 5), Washington State 4 (Crosby 2). Total fouls-Washington 24, Washington State 26. A-6,932.