House Raises The Roof

Like most of the other coaches in the Pacific-10 Conference, Washington State’s Paul Graham spent more than a few moments this week trying to figure out how to stop Arizona State’s Eddie House.

Then he had an idea.

“I called Rob Evans (Arizona State’s coach) and told him that if he didn’t play Eddie House, I wouldn’t play Nick Graham (one of WSU’s wide-eyed freshmen),” the coach said.

But the coaches discussed it and figured if Paul Graham didn’t play his son Nick, Nick’s mother would never let the coach hear the end of it. And if Evans didn’t play House, basketball fans everywhere would never let him hear the end of it.

After all, over the past three weeks, the senior has become, well, a House-hold name in college hoops. On Saturday, he scored a Pac-10 record-tying 61 points against Cal. That’s more than 55 Division I teams scored that day. It’s also the highest point total in Division I since Askia Jones scored 62 for Kansas State in 1994. Plus, only five players since 1978 have scored 60 or more points in any game involving two Division I teams.

The frightening part for coaches around the league is that, while House certainly won’t go for 60-plus every night, he has been putting up astronomical numbers in the last six games.

Over that span, House has averaged 37.5 points per game on 55 percent shooting - 57 percent from behind the arc. He is also leading his team in assists (3.0) and steals (2.8). “You’d think he’d get tired,” said Cal coach Ben Braun. “If nothing else, you miss shots from fatigue. But he just continued to make plays. If I’m a pro scout, I’m impressed with how much he can continue to play.”

Apparently, Braun’s predecessor, Todd Bozeman, was not impressed with House’s ability four years ago. House desperately wanted to follow fellow East Bay native Jason Kidd to Cal. But Bozeman never showed interest.

“I didn’t get one call. I didn’t even get a `Hi.”’ House said. “I took that personally.”

So in his last game in front of friends and family in the Bay Area, House got a little personal with the Bears. When he had scored the last of his 61 points and ASU had won, House ran from the floor yelling: “This is my house.”

Opposing mascots had better tread lightly around the Arizona State huddle. Prior to the tip in last week’s ASU-Stanford game, the often-overzealous Cardinal tree got a little too close to the ASU huddle. Sun Devils forward Awvee Storey responded by kicking the tree in the trunk, and it collapsed to the floor.

Rush returns

UCLA sophomore forward JaRon Rush rejoined the Bruins on Monday. Rush, who was suspended Dec. 10 for reportedly accepting cash from an agent, may practice with the team, but is still suspended indefinitely from playing. Rush averaged 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in the Bruins’ first three games.

Hair-raising experience

Washington forward Thalo Green, the son of an artist and the Pac-10’s most eccentric player, was criticized by the UW student newspaper for his long, shaggy hair. Green, who shaved his head last season, responded by saying he intends to cut his locks at the end of the season and donate all that hair to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Knowing the odds

WSU coach Paul Graham was asked Tuesday if he was aware of the Cougars’ 28-game losing streak against Arizona, currently the longest such streak in the Pac-10.

The first-year coach’s response: “There are a bunch of streaks against Washington State.”

He’s right. The Cougars have lost 14 straight to UCLA (43 straight at `UCLA). And in the past three-plus seasons they have a Pac-10 worst 12-44 record.