Defense can’t save Cougars
PULLMAN – In the final two home games of this season, Washington State University allowed a total of 82 points – and lost both games.
Two days after losing a 43-41 contest to California, the Cougars outdid that, losing 39-37 to Stanford before 4,899 at Friel Court.
The lowest-scoring Pacific-10 Conference men’s basketball game since the advent of the shot clock was also a close one, decided on an Anthony Goods tip-in with 3.7 seconds left after Stanford point guard Chris Hernandez missed a jumper.
Neither team led by more than four points in the second half, and both teams matched each other missed shot for missed shot. Stanford (14-11, 10-6) made 32.6 percent of its shots from the field (32.6 percent), while WSU (11-14, 4-12) made 32.7.
The Cougars’ final home game meant the last for senior Randy Green, the lone remaining holdover from the Paul Graham era. Green – also the lone scholarship player from the state of Washington – was honored by teammates who all sported green T-shirts with the No. 12 before the game. But his last game was not a great one, as the guard from Renton went 0 for 7 from the floor and missed the box out on Goods before the winning score.
“He got good position on me and was able to put the tip back in,” Green said. “You’ve got to stay alert at all times. And I kind of fell asleep at the last second.”
WSU head coach Dick Bennett, who was almost certainly participating in his final Beasley Coliseum game with his probable retirement at season’s end, was none too pleased, either.
“I just feel bad,” Bennett said. “The kids played their hearts out and I thought the kids deserved a better fate.”
Bennett was unusually steamed at the refereeing, which was noticeably inconsistent on both ends. WSU was called for a goaltend in the first half – a call for which one referee later apologized to Bennett – and then Robbie Cowgill was whistled for a questionable moving screen late in the game that nullified a Josh Akognon 3-pointer.
“When I retire,” Bennett said, “Pac-10 referees will not be on my Christmas list.”
For all of their offensive ineptitude in recent weeks – it was the fourth time in six games WSU failed to score 42 points – the Cougars did play remarkable defense the entire game. Stanford power forward Matt Haryasz was 2 of 11 and had six points. Hernandez was 2 of 8 for 10 points, as the Cougars continually forced other Cardinal players to participate in the offense.
Still, these last games have proven that superb defense means little unless it is paired with at least some offensive acumen. (WSU shot 2 of 17 from 3-point range.)
“In general, there’s hardly anything I can find fault with defensively,” Bennett said. “To become a shooter you’ve just got to pay the price. And some of these guys will find out now that they’re going to have to pay a bigger price to become better shooters.”
The Cougars have lost 11 of 13 games, and find themselves 2-0 against Washington but 2-12 against the rest of the conference with just two regular-season games left.
“We played real good defense. That definitely kept us in the game,” Green said, retelling the story of the Cougars season. “But you’ve got to be able to put the ball in the hole.”
Notes
Josh Akognon had a game-high 11 points and Robbie Cowgill had 10 for WSU. … This was Stanford’s first win scoring less than 40 points since 1947. … The Cougars led at halftime, 22-20, their first lead at the break in 11 games and just their third in Pac-10 play this season. … This was the second WSU game under Dick Bennett in which neither team has scored 40 points. The Cougars defeated Idaho 37-36 in November 2004.
Stanford 39, WSU 37
| Stanford | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| (14-11, 10-6) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Haryasz | 38 | 2-11 | 2-4 | 3-13 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Finger | 30 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Johnson | 18 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hernandez | 37 | 2-8 | 4-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Grunfeld | 15 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Goods | 22 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-7 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Morris | 17 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Hill | 8 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Haas | 11 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Prowitt | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 200 | 15-46 | 6-10 | 6-34 | 7 | 6 | 39 |
Percentages: FG .326, FT .600. 3-Point Goals: 3-10, .300 (Hernandez 2-4, Goods 1-3, Grunfeld 0-1, Johnson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots: 4 (Haryasz 2, Finger, Hill). Turnovers: 13 (Haryasz 2, Finger 2, Johnson 2, Hernandez 2, Goods 2, Grunfeld, Hill, Prowitt). Steals: 5 (Finger 2, Hernandez 2, Johnson). Technical Fouls: None.
| Wash. St. | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| (11-14, 4-12) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Cowgill | 36 | 5-6 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Baynes | 30 | 3-8 | 1-2 | 3-10 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Akognon | 36 | 5-13 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Low | 37 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Green | 25 | 0-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Chavers | 20 | 2-8 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Clark | 9 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Forrest | 7 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 200 | 17-52 | 1-2 | 7-34 | 8 | 12 | 37 |
Percentages: FG .327, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: 2-17, .118 (Low 1-4, Akognon 1-6, Chavers 0-1, Green 0-6). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 5 (Cowgill 2, Forrest 2, Baynes). Turnovers: 13 (Low 4, Green 3, Cowgill 2, Akognon 2, Chavers, Forrest). Steals: 9 (Green 4, Akognon 2, Cowgill, Low, Clark). Technical Fouls: None.
Halftime–Washington State 22, Stanford 20. A–4,899.