Cougars get past Trojans
PULLMAN — The thought of losing to last-place USC was enough to make Dick Bennett queasy, especially after his Washington State team had blown an overtime game to UCLA two days before.
So when his team came out and struggled to put away the Trojans before eking out a 61-53 win, it’s no surprise that the hangover kept Bennett feeling less than stellar afterwards.
“We easily could have lost this game and we would have been sick about it,” Bennett said after the Cougars moved back to .500 on the year at 10-10 (5-6 Pac-10). “I just thought virtually every team in our league would have cleaned up on us today. The fact that we played USC, who has had some struggles, is probably the only reason we won the game. And yet I said they outplayed us and I really believe that.”
The Cougars knew full well that a loss before the 4,926 fans around Friel Court would have essentially ended their postseason aspirations, but that didn’t stop them from losing a 10-point lead late in the first half.
The Trojans (9-13, 2-9), as Bennett made sure to point out, made some nice adjustments after losing to the Cougars by 17 at home in January, limiting Jeff Varem’s ability to score inside and forcing others into the mix.
Fortunately for WSU, just when it appeared they might not get those other contributions, two freshman starters hit key shots down the stretch.
With 3 minutes, 43 seconds to go, center Robbie Cowgill drilled a 16-foot jumper over 6-foot-8 Jeff McMillan to put the Cougars up by four. And though he fouled out 22 seconds later, the bucket completed a 5-for-5 day from the field and made him one of four Cougars to reach double figures. Cowgill, Varem and Thomas Kelati had 11; Chris Schlatter had 10 points.
And with 2 minutes, 27 seconds left, point guard Derrick Low hit a straightaway 3-pointer from 21 feet to put WSU up seven points, a dagger that appeared to suck any hope for an upset from the USC bench.
“This is one that the freshmen had a major hand in helping us win,” said Bennett, finding a silver lining after angrily addressing his team in the locker room. “While they may not feel that great about it after I got done with them, it should be noted.
“The key baskets down the stretch pretty much came from freshmen. Derrick probably played his best ball in the last five minutes. Robbie, who didn’t play but 18 minutes, really gave us a good 18 minutes. That shot he took on the baseline was huge at the time.”
Low took only three shots in the game, and Bennett again expressed his desire for the point guard to shoot the ball more. But while scoring just eight points, Low made up for it with eight assists, finding teammates in good positions all game long.
“For some reason I just find myself not in a place where I can score, usually,” Low said. “Getting assists isn’t that hard. I just try to get into the lane and dish out.”
Low’s assists may have been a saving grace because the Cougars somehow managed to play the whole 40 minutes without collecting a single offensive rebound.
“That’s definitely a stat you can’t win a lot of games with so I guess we’re fortunate to have pulled this one out with something like that,” Cowgill said. “I guess that goes back to that we came out a little bit dead. You could just feel that there was a little bit of a lack of energy.”
And Bennett is making it clear to his team that while the win is a good thing, anything less than improved play will make for a difficult homestretch.
“We’re going to have to play considerably better than we played this weekend at home,” he said. “Do not accept in victory what you would not accept in defeat.”