Varem fills a tall order in Cougars’ victory

Sometimes the best coaching moves are made far from the basketball court and days before the opening tip.

Earlier this week, Washington State coach Dick Bennett publicly called out one of his seniors, Jeff Varem, describing an “impasse” between the two about the forward’s role.

Friday night at the Spokane Arena, Varem responded exactly as Bennett had hoped.

The senior scored all of his game-high 18 points in the second half and added a game-high 12 rebounds as well, leading WSU to a 60-51 victory over Stanford (6-5, 0-1 Pac-10) in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both schools.

And after a sloppy first half that the Cougars (6-4, 1-0) escaped leadingt 18-16, they turned it on by shooting 60 percent after halftime, led by Varem’s dominance in the paint.

“He was really a player tonight. That’s the highest praise I can (give). He was a player,” Bennett said. “When we are solid, we are a worthy competitor and that’s what we were today.”

The victory was WSU’s first in a conference opener since Jan. 3, 1999, and its first over the Cardinal since Feb. 22, 1996, with 17 losses in between.

Four Cougars scored in double figures, which helped offset the fact that they had just three points from the bench and none in the first 35 minutes. But for Varem, even the scoreless first half didn’t mean he was any less effective.

Varem collected six defensive rebounds before the break as the Cougars throttled the Stanford offense. He also had two crowd-pleasing blocks on back-to-back possessions in the early going, plus one more with 35 seconds left on a Dan Grunfeld 3-point attempt as Stanford desperately tried to match last season’s miraculous last-second win in Pullman.

“Our front line’s not big, and I have to come back and help with the rebounds,” Varem said. “Coach just told me to stay positive, try to get inside.”

“I think those blocks had an impact, too,” Bennett chimed in. “You start thinking about that when you have the ball down deep. We were worried about their big kids taking it to us.”

But by game’s end, Varem had rendered Stanford’s interior game worthless, helping out on post defense when necessary and spinning his way to the basket for easy points.

“We were just trying to keep him away from the basket,” said Stanford center Rob Little, the team’s No. 3 scorer, but one who didn’t tally a single point against the Cougars. “We know he likes to post up smaller players that guard him and then take bigger players outside.

“He’s a very versatile player for them and very good on the boards.”

Varem’s heroics also helped erase some of the Cougars’ shortcomings over the course of the game like the spotty bench contributions, not to mention the memories of the loss to then-undefeated Stanford in February.

In that game, Varem committed a foul to give the Cardinal a four-point play that set up Matt Lottich’s buzzer-beater. This time around, there was no such miracle in store.

“You can’t help but have last year’s Stanford game on the back of your mind during that last stretch of the game,” said Thomas Kelati, who had 17 points, including four free throws in the final minute to help ice the win. “That was on my mind, but I kept telling guys, ‘Remember last year. Don’t let it happen again. Don’t let it happen again.’ “

Notes

Bennett used his ninth different starting lineup in 10 games, going with seniors Varem, Kelati, Chris Schlatter and Shami Gill as well as freshman point guard Derrick Low. … The attendance was announced at 3,526. … WSU’s 12 first-half turnovers nearly matched the team’s season average of 12.8. But the Cougars tightened things up in the second half, giving the ball away just twice to finish with 14 turnovers. … WSU is now 10-9 all-time at the Arena, with game No. 20 coming at 2 p.m. Sunday against California, which lost by 14 to Washington on Friday in Seattle

Washington State 60, Stanford 51

Stanford (6-5, 0-1) – Robinson 3-9 0-0 7, Haryasz 2-9 0-0 4, Little 0-2 0-2 0, Hernandez 4-9 0-0 9, Grunfeld 8-18 1-2 18, Morris 4-7 0-0 9, Finger 0-0 0-0 0, Haas 0-1 0-0 0, Washington 1-3 0-0 2, Prowitt 1-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 1-4 51.

Washington State (6-4, 1-0) – Schlatter 3-6 1-2 10, Gill 1-1 0-0 2, Varem 6-12 6-8 18, Low 4-7 1-1 10, Kelati 5-10 4-4 17, Akognon 0-1 0-0 0, Green 0-1 0-0 0, Henry 0-1 0-0 0, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0, Cowgill 0-2 3-7 3. Totals 19-42 15-22 60.

Halftime – Washington State 18, Stanford 16. 3-point goals – Stanford 4-16 (Robinson 1-3, Hernandez 1-4, Grunfeld 1-5, Morris 1-4), Washington State 7-13 (Green 0-1, Kelati 3-4, Akognon 0-1, Cowgill 0-1, Low 1-2). Rebounds – Stanford 29 (Haryasz 7), Washington State 35 (Varem 12). Assists – Stanford 12 (Hernandez 5), Washington State 10 (Low 4). Total fouls – Stanford 20, Washington State 11. A – 3,526