Oregon trailers
EUGENE, Ore. – Washington State can set a school record for wins this season. It can finish near the top of the Pac-10 standings for the first time in more than a decade. It could even make a run deep into the NCAA tournament.
But the Cougars still can’t beat Oregon.
In a game controlled by ninth-ranked Washington State early, 23rd-ranked Oregon outhustled and outsmarted the visitors down the stretch on Thursday night, winning 64-59 at Mac Court, where the Cougars haven’t won since 1995. The Ducks scored 14 of the last 18 points and claimed a 13th straight win in the series.
WSU (22-5, 11-4 Pac-10) lost its inside track at a Pac-10 championship, and the blame could easily be placed in its inability to handle the basketball throughout.
“Some of our turnovers obviously were costly,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “We had a couple of plays going for home runs. That’s not us. When we try and do things we’re not capable of, we’re going to end up on the wrong side.”
None of the Cougars’ 14 turnovers – a high in Pac-10 play – was more damaging than the one with just a few precious seconds left. Trailing by three points after an Aaron Brooks 5-foot runner, Kyle Weaver took an inbounds pass but couldn’t handle the ball down the left sideline while being guarded by Malik Hairston. The ball bounced forward off of Weaver, and Ivory Clark couldn’t save it before it went out of bounds.
“I never really had control of it after a couple of dribbles,” said Weaver, who had four turnovers. “I don’t even remember if it went off my hands or my leg. I know it got away from me after a while.”
Two free throws later, the game was in Oregon’s hands and the sellout crowd of 9,087 was roaring.
Nowhere did WSU have more defensive problems than in stopping the smallest player on the court, Oregon’s Tajuan Porter. At 5-foot-6, Porter’s shot selection is often poor, as in the 27-footer he hoisted up in the second half. But when he’s on, Porter can score in bunches.
He tallied 19 of his 21 points in the second half, including 11 straight for the Ducks (21-7, 9-7) at one point. His shooting prowess helped the Ducks maintain a frenetic style to their liking, and it may have put Oregon into the NCAA tournament after having lost five of six coming in.
“That deep 3, I shouldn’t have taken it,” Porter admitted. “But I made the rest of them.”
This result was especially vexing for the Cougars, because the game seemed to be in their control early. WSU had a 17-0 first-half run, and could have gone into halftime up by double digits. But Weaver was beaten on a back-door cut by Brooks, and a quick Derrick Low 3-pointer allowed Oregon time to make a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five at the half.
“We’ve been sloppier than we need to and it’s like Coach Bennett tells us, we’re not good enough to make those kinds of mistakes,” WSU’s Daven Harmeling said. “And he’s right on. We’re not. Every time we do, we lose.”
Harmeling led the Cougars with 15 points, but it was a couple of first-half surprises that seemed to key WSU’s early surge.
Guard Mac Hopson, who last saw a significant minute at California on Jan. 11, and walk-on guard Jeremy Cross, who hadn’t played more than 3 minutes in a game in his Cougars career, both saw solid minutes early. They were on the floor when WSU opened up its lead, which was 14 at one point.
But Porter and Oregon got back into the game by shooting from the outside, making 11 of 25 3-pointers and frustrating an already-extended Cougars defense.
“We felt in control, but at the same time you’d be an idiot to think that Oregon wasn’t going to make a run,” Harmeling said. “They’ve got too many scorers to be flat like that for the duration of the game.”
Notes
With four blocked shots, WSU set a school record for blocks in a season with 133. The previous record was 130. … The Cougars must try to rebound with a win Saturday at Oregon State, where they haven’t won since 1998. WSU is 4-0 coming off of losses this season.