Weaver works to make believers

When Washington State takes the Pauley Pavilion floor tonight to play No. 1 UCLA, one player may be less interested in looking around at the championship banners, John Wooden in the stands or the coeds in the crowd.

One of them, almost certainly, will look to the bucket in front of the WSU bench and wonder what could have been.

It was less than a year ago that Kyle Weaver had his chance to send the Cougars into overtime against a ranked Bruins squad, only to watch a layup fall off the rim as time expired.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Weaver said. “That’s something that happened and I learned from it. Hopefully, the next time I get in the lane like that with a couple of seconds, I can dunk it instead of laying it up.”

Getting over that mental hurdle will be one of the easiest things for Weaver and the Cougars to do at 7:30 tonight. UCLA is atop both polls for plentiful reasons, almost all of which were on display in its last game, a 37-point win against Michigan on national television.

As Pac-10 openers go, they don’t get any more difficult, and the Cougars are sure to leave Westwood well aware of every strength and weakness on the roster.

“You can’t get away with playing anything less than a complete basketball game,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “You can’t play one half poor and one half good and expect to be in a game against UCLA. They’re just too good, basically, from top to bottom.”

If the Cougars are to do that and have a chance at the upset tonight, they’ll probably need Weaver to be on top of his game, something that historically has been anything but a guarantee.

Now a junior, the Wisconsin native has been up and down throughout his career, showing potential that few others on the Cougars roster could exhibit while often struggling to wrap his body and his mind around the game in front of him. But more often this season than in any other, Weaver is showing that the Cougars’ patience may pay off in a big way.

“Maturing, that’s probably the biggest thing,” Weaver said. “I’ve just taken the last couple of years as a learning process.

“It’s been a struggle. I’m still learning. This year, I’ve tried to take more of a leadership role on this team.”

Take, as an example, the Cougars’ most recent outing. Against San Diego State in Seattle a week ago, Weaver was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half, showing the ability to get into position to make plays but displaying a baffling inability to finish them off. But the junior emerged from the locker room a changed player, taking over on the offensive end by successfully getting to the bucket for easy points and demanding defensive duties on the opponent’s best player. That guard, Brandon Heath, was quickly erased from the game’s equation by Weaver’s impressive defensive effort.

“I personally feel really comfortable with Kyle on the floor,” fellow junior Derrick Low said. “We’re going to need that same kind of effort. We don’t know what’s going to happen against UCLA, if we’re going to make all our shots or miss all of them.”

Since his first day at WSU, Weaver has been a point of constant attention from the coaching staff – and that may be the best indication of his potential. The echoes of now-retired Dick Bennett’s voice screaming Weaver’s name still resonate in the team’s practice facility, and the new Bennett is charge hasn’t been far behind.

“Kyle, we’re just really trying to push him out of that comfort zone at practice and challenge him consistently,” Tony Bennett said. “His game gets elevated and it takes our team to a better place. Much better.”

That’s because Weaver affects WSU not just in the scoring column. At 10.4 points a game, he is second on the team in scoring. But he’s also tops in free throws, assists and blocks. He’s second in steals and third in rebounds.

Weaver, at his aggressive best, is the one player who seems able to get his fingers in every part of the game for WSU. That, of course, is precisely what it’ll need tonight amidst the top team in college basketball.

That, and maybe a dunk somewhere along the way.

“I can’t really tell what clicks or what makes it click. It just happens,” Weaver said. “You don’t feel like you have to put up big numbers putting the ball in the hole. You can have assists, rebounds, different aspects. Guarding the best person on the other team, different things like that, taking that challenge.”