Cougars pleased to be playing in Seattle

SEATTLE – The weather has taken a turn toward winter. Final exams loom next week. And yet the Washington State basketball team boarded an airplane Friday and bounced across the mountains to play a home game here tonight against Montana State.

The most obvious question is why?

And the most obvious answer is tonight’s Cougar Hardwood Classic at KeyArena is about money. But though there is some to be made, there are other reasons as well.

“It’s a lot of fun,” senior Taylor Rochestie said this week. “We love going over there and we love our Seattle crowd and alumni and fans that are over there.

“They really make it a home-court advantage when we get over there.”

Coach Tony Bennett also sees a benefit, one that includes a couple of elements.

“For the last four years, to go over to Seattle has been good for us,” Bennett said. “To play in KeyArena, where the Sonics used to play, has always excited our guys and it is a good opportunity for the West Side fans.”

WSU athletic director Jim Sterk, who instituted the yearly football and basketball games in Seattle, admits money did play a part in his thought process. But it wasn’t the overwhelming one.

“It makes some money, but not a significant amount,” he said. “I think the benefit is from a marketing standpoint. Getting the Cougars over here … allows us the opportunity to bring alumni and friends together.”

No matter the motivation, Bennett knows the game is an important one, since the Cougars are coming off back-to-back home non-conference defeats for the first time since 1985. In their three recent games against ranked opponents – Pitt, Baylor and Gonzaga – the Cougars have shot just 35.2 percent from the floor and 27.5 percent on 3-pointers.

“When you don’t knock down shots, that’s hard to overcome for a team like us,” Bennett said prior to the Cougars’ KeyArena practice. “We need to make some adjustments. We’ve labored to score a little bit, so we have to find ways to work not to just get OK shots, but to get real good shots.

“That’s where shot selection, decision-making and … running our offense, real solid, real tough, can help us.”

The Cougars dropped to 6-3 Wednesday when they were blown out by fourth-ranked Gonzaga in the second half, losing 74-52, the worst defeat in Bennett’s three-season tenure.

WSU’s shooting woes continued against the Bulldogs, as the Cougars hit just 32.7 percent of their shots, including just 2 of 19 from beyond the arc. The Cougars’ season percentage dropped to 42.5, ninth in the Pac-10, and they are making just 31.7 percent of their 3-point attempts.

Despite GU hitting 47.5 percent from the floor, WSU is still holding teams to 33.9 percent and was No. 1 in the most recent NCAA statistics in that category.

The Bobcats (4-3) are familiar to Eastern Washington basketball fans, having recently opened Big Sky Conference play with a 61-55 loss at EWU. MSU is coming off a 74-60 home win over Cal State Fullerton, with 6-foot-7 forward Bobby Howard leading the way with 20 points, the third time this year the sophomore has scored 20 or more.

Howard leads MSU, averaging 14 points per game, while 6-9 center Divaldo Mbunga adds 12.9 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game.

The Cougars last played Montana State four years ago, winning 59-42 in Pullman.