Cougars look for 7th win
Starting a season 6-0 is nice enough, but just when would the undefeated start be enough to get first-year head Washington State basketball coach Tony Bennett’s attention?
“Let’s see, 31 (in the regular season) and then six in the tournament … how many games to win a national title?” said Bennett, whose team goes after win No. 7 against Portland at 7 tonight on Friel Court in Pullman.
He’s joking, of course, but his WSU team has put together anything but a laughable start. Even still, Bennett and the Cougars seem far too worried about the present to begin contemplating an undefeated future.
Take, for instance, WSU’s last win, a 65-63 squeaker over Boise State.
“We did not play well at all,” Bennett said. “They probably, in a sense, outplayed us for a majority of the game and maybe deserved to win it. But that is a step in the right direction that we finished down the stretch.
“My wife said, ‘You can either win or you can learn,’ but when you can win and learn it gets better.”
The coach has to hope, then, that his team picked up a few lessons from that narrow escape in Spokane against the Broncos.
Portland comes to Pullman at 2-5 under another first-year coach, former Stanford assistant Eric Reveno. The Pilots are 0-6 all time in Pullman, and last year WSU defeated them 61-46 on the same floor.
WSU should once again be at full strength tonight as center Aron Baynes made his season debut against Boise State after a long recovery from off-season injuries to his ankle and foot. Baynes may once again see limited time in this game, but if needed he should add some muscle to the middle, where rebounding is becoming a primary issue of concern.
“Hey, I’m very thankful we’re 6-0,” Bennett said. “And every victory we can get is huge for us. You don’t know what it means at the end of the year. You can’t worry about it. But you take one when you can get one.”
–Glenn Kasses
E. Oregon at EWU
Eastern Washington takes on Eastern Oregon at 7:05 tonight at Reese Court.
It’s the third NAIA opponent for the Eagles, who received permission from the NCAA for an extra “play down” game because UC Riverside canceled out on EWU late.
“Eastern Oregon is 8-1 right now, they are very well coached, and they have beaten some great basketball teams,” Eagles coach Mike Burns said. “If we don’t come out focused and ready to go in that one, it could easily become a loss.”
Technically, the Mountaineers are 7-1 with Friday’s 69-63 victory over Northwest Nazarene an exhibition game, as is the game at EWU.
It’s the fourth game in eight days for the Eagles (4-3).
The Mountaineers have a Spokane flavor with four former Greater Spokane League players, although Kyle Janke (West Valley) is redshirting. Senior Derek Brown (Mt. Spokane) and sophomore Jeremy Templeton (Ferris) are starting and 6-foot-8 freshman Josh Landsverk (Shadle Park) comes off the bench.
Templeton averages 9.4 points, fourth on the team, and has 33 assists. Brown averages 7.4 points and is third in rebounding at 4.3.
–Dave Trimmer
Idaho at UW
The Idaho Vandals (1-4), having just suffered a 76-51 loss Sunday at Gonzaga, face another formidable foe when they play the No. 13 Washington Huskies in Seattle at 7 tonight.
The Huskies have won their first five games this season, all at home.
They boast a balanced scoring attack with four different players having claimed top-scoring honors. Only Justin Dentmon has been their leading scorer twice. Washington won last year’s matchup against Idaho, also at Seattle, 90-67.
The Huskies are expected to start an all-underclassmen lineup: freshmen Spencer Hawes, Adrian Oliver and Quincy Pondexter, and sophomores Jon Brockman and Dentmon.
The Vandals offense is led by senior Keoni Watson (17.0) and junior Mario Mackey (11.0).
The game will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 14 in Spokane.