Cougars lay egg against Ducks

EUGENE, Ore. – Tony Bennett, Washington State’s head coach designate, arrived at Saturday’s game more than 10 minutes in because a flight from a recruiting trip had been delayed.

If the airlines had been more helpful, they might have kept him from the game altogether.

In what his father, head coach Dick Bennett, had told his team might be the most important game of the year, WSU laid an ostrich egg at McArthur Court against Oregon, losing 67-37 after trailing 30-10 at halftime.

“A very embarrassing performance,” the head coach said. “Our young players who are not strong, not particularly gifted, (they) have just run out of steam or something.”

And as he was departing from the postgame news conference, the 62-year-old Bennett suggested once again how close he is to stepping down and turning the program over to his son.

“I’m just tired,” he said. “It’s been a long, long run and I think the game belongs to the younger people, as well it should.”

On the court, the Cougars’ performance rivaled that of their 50-30 loss a week earlier against UCLA for offensive ineptitude. Neither team scored a field goal for the first 8 minutes and 43 seconds until Josh Akognon tied the game at 3-all with a runner from the right side.

But that bucket only served to spark the Ducks (12-15, 6-9 Pac-10) while the Cougars (11-12, 4-10) remained horribly off-kilter.

“We just got off to a slow start, couldn’t make baskets,” said Kyle Weaver, who had 10 points for WSU. “It’s going to get to a point where it’s hard to look at the next one, to get ready for the next one. Because our guys are down. I’m sure Coach is disappointed too, just as much as we are at each other.”

At the half, the Cougars were 3 of 23 from the field, and while a more productive second half improved their scoring pace it still left them with an anemic 26.5 shooting percentage for the afternoon.

Taking advantage of all the missed shots, Oregon claimed a 17-rebound advantage and hit cruise control in the second half of its last home game.

WSU had come into this week thinking it had a solid chance at the NIT with three wins in the final six regular-season games. Now, with four to play, it still needs those three wins. The Cougars went winless on the Oregon road trip for the eighth consecutive year and haven’t won in Eugene since 1995.

“This just kind of took us by surprise,” said Robbie Cowgill, who scored a team-high 11 points. “These were two ones we felt like we had a good chance of getting, that we needed to get. We’re in bad shape right now.”

Notes

Point guard Derrick Low was 0 of 7 from the floor in 33 minutes. … WSU’s starters shot 8 of 34. … Cowgill, Weaver and Akognon combined for 31 of WSU’s 37 points. … For the Ducks, Chamberlain Oguchi scored a game-high 18 points and Malik Hairston added 15. … Oregon forward Ivan Johnson did not play Saturday after getting a technical foul and having an incident with coach Ernie Kent during Thursday’s loss.

Oregon 67, WSU 37

Percentages: FG .265, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 3-13, .231 (Akognon 2-5, Forrest 1-1, Green 0-1, Weaver 0-2, Low 0-4). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 6 (Weaver 3, Henry, Forrest, Cowgill). Turnovers: 15 (Weaver 4, Henry 3, Akognon 3, Cowgill 2, Low, Baynes, Green). Steals: 4 (Akognon 2, Forrest, Cowgill). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .414, FT .813. 3-Point Goals: 6-25, .240 (Oguchi 3-11, Brooks 2-3, Hairston 1-7, Lincoln 0-1, Leunen 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 7 (Hairston 3, Kent, Oguchi, Leunen, Schafer). Turnovers: 12 (Hairston 4, Kent 2, Oguchi 2, Schafer 2, Lincoln, Leunen). Steals: 7 (Brooks 3, Hairston, Kent, Short, Oguchi). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Oregon 30, Washington State 10. A–9,087.