‘Sky-vory’ returns

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Washington State forward Ivory Clark hadn’t heard his nickname for a while: Sky-vory.

“I thought he died last week,” Clark said. “He’s been resuscitated I hope, and hopefully he’s here to stay.”

Clark’s acrobatic defense from the weak side helped put the clamps on Oral Roberts’ high-scoring forward Caleb Green, helping the Cougars to a 70-54 NCAA tournament victory Thursday at Arco Arena. Green, who entered the game with nine straight 20-point games, was limited to 13 points, his lowest total since the Golden Eagles’ season opener.

Green and sharp-shooting guard Ken Tutt, who combine to average 36.5 points per game, were the focus of WSU’s defense, so much so that the Cougars threw black pinnies jerseys on players in practice this week to emulate the pair.

The Cougars opened the game trapping Green when he caught the ball.

Green made just 4 of 16 shots and committed four turnovers. Green several times tried to navigate through two defenders, only to lose the ball or force off-balance shots. When Tutt’s perimeter shooting cooled off, Oral Roberts went to Green on nearly every possession. Clark swatted two of Green’s shots near the end of the first half and rejected another on the opening series of the second half.

“Ivory’s undersized, but he’s so long he can go up and take those big-boy shots off the rim,” guard Derrick Low said.

Clark, whose playing time had diminished the last couple weeks, equaled a season high with five blocks. Cowgill swatted two more.

Green smiled on the court throughout the first half, but that changed in the second half as his frustration level climbed.

Guard turnaround

WSU’s backcourt of Derrick Low, Taylor Rochestie and Kyle Weaver got off to a rugged start. Weaver picked up his second foul at the 16-minute mark and went to the bench for more than 8 minutes. He came back just before Low picked up his second foul with 7:07 left and went to the sidelines. Weaver didn’t score until hitting a putback with 3:30 remaining and Low was limited to four first-half points. Rochestie had a couple of early shot attempts swatted in the lane before he began to heat up.

Late in the half, Rochestie scored on a difficult, hanging jumper in the paint and Weaver followed with a steal and dunk just before the buzzer.

“They’ve got some great shot blockers and at the end of the half I went up to shoot and I saw about seven hands in the air waiting to block the shot,” said Rochestie, who finished with 15 points and four assists. “So I kind of had to hold off a little and let it go at the end.”

Low made two 3-pointers and totaled 12 points and three assists. Weaver came back to put up 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“That foul trouble hurt us,” Cougars coach Tony Bennett said, “but I did think we held our composure and then we had that flurry at the end that got it down to a one-possession game.”

WSU shot 59.3 percent in the second half and had just one turnover. The Cougars scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions in the second half.

Picked on

WSU was well aware of numerous national pundits who predicted No. 14 Oral Roberts would upset the third-seeded Cougars. Coach Tony Bennett even offered a gentle reminder prior to the game.

“We were kind of the upset special and I challenged our guys,” Bennett said.

“It’s just like you were picked 10th in the Pac-10 and I said, ‘Your reward for having this good of a season and finishing second is to play in one of the greatest sporting events going. But you have to start over and prove it now.’ “

The Cougars expect more of the same from the national media in the second round against sixth-seeded Vanderbilt.

“Those naysayers will say we’ll lose our next game,” Rochestie said. “As far as that’s concerned, we hear it but we don’t listen to it. In here, we have confidence and we know we can play.”