Huskies coming to town
PULLMAN – Freshman Nikola Koprivica is from Belgrade, Serbia, so it’s no surprise that the 18-year-old knew nothing of the Washington State-Washington rivalry before arriving on campus in the fall.
But it didn’t take long for him to figure it out.
“I was talking to some friends here, you know, regular students,” Koprivica explained, “and they were like, ‘Oh guys, you need only to beat U-Dub. It’s OK, you can lose all the other games. Just beat U-Dub.’ “
If Koprivica hadn’t known about the significance of the upcoming game, a stroll along Stadium Way would have explained the situation nicely. There, the message board outside Beasley Coliseum is flashing the words “SOLD OUT” for all to see.
Tickets for Saturday’s game against the Huskies are indeed off the market, and WSU expects even more than the 10,755 who attended the December home game against Gonzaga because more student guest passes have been sold.
Assuming that is the case, Saturday’s crowd will be the biggest at a Cougar home game in at least 12 years. Those left out in the cold have no other recourse but to watch the 3 p.m. game on FSN.
WSU’s success this year – at 15-3 overall, it is sitting near the top of the Pac-10 standings through three weeks with a 4-2 record – is in marked and remarkable contrast to Washington’s. The Huskies’ overall record, 11-6, is fine, but they find themselves at 1-5 in the conference and in desperate need of a win.
The Cougars, who defeated Washington twice last year despite a last-place conference finish, know very well that anything could happen this weekend.
“There’s always a buzz when we play the Huskies,” senior Ivory Clark said. “Now, it’s kind of the inverse of last year. They’re not ranked and we are. Their record is not that great and ours is OK. We don’t want them to beat us twice like we did to them last year.”
Surgery for Henry
Junior center Chris Henry has elected to have surgery on his right ankle, a procedure that will take place on Friday and then sideline him for 8 to 10 weeks.
Henry has seen limited action this season, playing in six non-conference games for a total of 28 minutes. A collection of bone chips in the ankle will be addressed in the surgery, and the timing would allow for more time to prepare for next season, assuming that he does not make an unexpected recovery to become available again before the end of the current season.
Notes
Koprivica did not participate in any team drills on Tuesday because of patellar tendonitis. The freshman said he may have to take it easy for the next couple of days as well, but he plans to be ready in time for the weekend. … Kyle Weaver has become the first Cougar since Carlos Daniel in 1998 to record three consecutive double-doubles. Weaver had a triple-double as well as six steals against Stanford on Saturday.