Cougs outrun Central

PULLMAN – The sweater vest was gone from the Washington State bench, replaced by a more youthful-looking suit – no tie, unbuttoned collar – but the Cougars on the court looked just like the Pac-10 team you’d expect in Tony Bennett’s debut on the sidelines Sunday afternoon.

WSU, playing in its only exhibition game this season before 1,416 fans in Beasley Coliseum, easily dispatched Central Washington 84-40. The Cougars ran faster, shot better and generally outplayed their Division II opponent almost from the opening tip.

“We did what we had to do,” said Bennett, who is in his first season as head coach after replacing his father, Dick. “When they pressured us we got a lot of breakaway transition baskets.”

That, of course, is a departure in and of itself from his father’s coaching tenure, when WSU was much less likely to run in the open floor.

With an obvious edge in athleticism against the Wildcats, though, the Cougars forced the issue, collecting 12 steals and turning them into one transition bucket after another.

Nine minutes in the Cougars had only a two-point lead, but as they settled down the margin widened quickly and by halftime WSU led 48-21.

“Coach stresses it. He wants us to get out when we can,” said guard Kyle Weaver, who had 10 points and eight rebounds. “We did that tonight and we got a lot of buckets on those. We didn’t get that last year. I think those easy lay-ups, that’s nice, that helps us offensively.”

Even though this year’s roster looks strikingly similar to last year’s, there were some new wrinkles in the starting lineup. Center Aron Baynes is out until at least late this month as he recovers from injury, and the Cougars went small as a result with a three-guard, two-forward look.

And Mac Hopson, a transfer from NIC, started at point guard, a move that allows junior Derrick Low to slide over into the off-guard spot.

On Sunday, Low flourished in his new role, hitting 8 of 10 shots form the floor to score a game-high 18 points in just 27 minutes.

“They need some help in the scoring department so they want me to shoot more,” Low said. “(The switch) definitely does open it up a lot more scoring-wise instead of always looking to get other people open.”

With the game easily in hand, Bennett and his staff were able to take a look at the entire roster, in particular freshmen Thomas Abercrombie and Nikola Koprivica. There is still a chance that one of the two, probably Abercrombie, could redshirt the season, although Bennett said no final decision had been made as of yet.

Koprivica, who hails from Serbia, will have to sit the first four games of the regular season assuming he does not redshirt because of an NCAA ruling on playing time in European leagues.

The Cougars travel to Milwaukee in just three days for their opening game of the regular season, which will come on Friday against Radford. It will be the first of three games in three days the Cougars play as part of the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tournament.

“We’re going against some big boys coming up,” Bennett said.

Notes

Lance Den Boer, who played a season at WSU before transferring to Central Washington, scored a team-high 10 points but was generally held in check by Weaver and the Cougars. He missed six of his nine shots from the field. … All 12 WSU scholarship players who played scored least two points. … Robbie Cowgill, slowed by a hip flexor injury, played just 14 minutes.

WSU 84, Central Washington 40

Central Washington (40)—Den Boer 3-9 2-3 10, Daub 1-3 0-1 2, Freshwater 0-6 0-0 0, Groth 1-8 0-0 2, Jackson 2-8 3-5 7, Monti 1-5 0-0 3, Breeze 0-1 0-3 0, Monk 1-7 0-0 3, Curry 0-1 0-0 0, Assink 2-4 0-0 4, Bell 0-2 0-0 0, McMillion 4-7 1-5 9, Totals 15-61 6-17 40.

Washington St. (84)—Clark 3-5 0-0 7, Cowgill 1-1 0-0 2, Hopson 2-6 7-8 12, Low 8-10 0-0 18, Weaver 4-7 1-2 10, Koprivica 2-5 1-2 5, Matthews 1-5 0-0 3, Rochestie 2-3 3-3 7, Abercrombie 2-3 4-6 9, Cross 0-2 0-0 0, Bailey 0-1 0-0 0, Harmeling 2-4 4-5 8, Henry 0-1 1-2 1, Plaister 0-0 0-0 0, Forrest 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 28-55 21-28 84.

Halftime–WSU 48, CWU 21. 3-point goals–CWU 4-21 (Den Boer 2-4, Daub 0-2, Groth 0-3, Jackson 0-2, Monti 1-3, Monk 1-6, Bell 0-1) WSU 7-14 (Clark 1-2, Hopson 1-2, Low 2-2, Weaver 1-1, Koprivica 0-2, Matthews 1-4, Abercrombie 1-1). Fouled out–none. Rebounds–CWU 38 (Daub 9), WSU 45 (Weaver 8). Assists–CWU 4 (Jackson, Monti, Monk, Bell 1). WSU 15 (Hopson, Weaver 4). Total fouls–CWU 23, WSU 20. A–1,416.