Cougars get offensive

BERKELEY, Calif. – Maybe short-handed is the way to go.

The first time Washington State met California, the Golden Bears played without starting center DeVon Hardin and won.

The second time the teams met, which happened to be Thursday night before 8,282 at Cal’s Haas Pavilion, the Cougars played without sixth-man Daven Harmeling and won.

Rather easily, actually, throttling the Bears in the second half and pulling away to a 70-49 men’s basketball victory.

It raised Washington State’s record to 22-6, 10-6 in the Pac-10, and all-but-clinched an NCAA tournament berth. At least coach Tony Bennett thinks so.

“He told us we’re going dancing,” said Robbie Cowgill, who celebrated his 22nd birthday with eight points and four rebounds. “That’s pretty cool. It’s special to go in back-to-back years, and no doubt we’re excited about that.”

Nothing is for certain, of course, until Selection Sunday in a little more than two weeks. The Bears, who talked all week of having to sweep the Washington schools to have a shot at the tournament, fell to 15-11, 6-9, and saw their hopes evaporate.

They disappeared under a second-half Cougars barrage built on their trademark … offense.

WSU had to rely on scoring because the Cougars defense was hampered with a lack of bodies, especially inside. Starting center Aron Baynes and his backup, Caleb Forrest, were handcuffed in early foul trouble and played a combined 35 minutes. Each fouled out with more than 4 minutes remaining.

But by then the Cougars had put the game away, largely thanks to an early second-half stretch when they just couldn’t miss.

Before Derrick Low, who finished with 15 points, hit an 8-foot runner to give WSU a 39-29 lead with 16:30 left, WSU was 14 of 31 from the field.

When the Cougars missed again, more than 8 minutes later, they led 62-42. WSU hit 10 consecutive shots, three by Low (including two 3-pointers), three by Taylor Rochestie (including two 3-pointers) and three by Kyle Weaver.

“All I knew is that we were getting good looks and we were knocking them down,” said Low, who added he was unaware of WSU’s string. “When you knock it down, you get more confidence.”

Rochestie (18 points, six assists, zero turnovers), Weaver (17 points) and Baynes (10 points and eight rebounds) joined Low in double figures, only the second time this Pac-10 season WSU had four players reach that mark. The first was a 73-58 win at USC.

The Cougars hit two-thirds of their second-half shots – including 5 of 7 3-pointers – and finished at 53.1 percent.

But Rochestie saw the improved offense (WSU shot 34 percent in last Saturday’s loss to Arizona) as a residue of WSU’s staple, defense.

“How much easier is it to make shots when you’re playing good defense,” the junior point guard said, turning an interviewer’s question around. “I think when you get three or four (stops) in a row, that’s when you frustrate a team. That’s when they started to break down.”

The easy win wasn’t that way at first, but the Cougars built lead after lead before halftime before Cal, led by Ryan Anderson, who finished with 17 points, inched back.

The Bears did WSU a favor in the first half, a half that included an appearance by seldom-used Chris Henry. Those two were related.

WSU suffered from foul trouble early, with Cowgill, charged with shadowing Pac-10 scoring leader Anderson, picking up his second on a charge with 14:43 left.

But Cowgill wasn’t alone. Forrest picked up three in the first half and Baynes had two. With Harmeling out with an ankle sprain, that’s about all the big guys WSU had.

That meant Henry, a 6-foot-9 redshirt junior who has played a total of 2 Pac-10 minutes, both in blowouts, came off the bench with 11:34 left.

He played 4 minutes in two stints in the first half, missing his only shot, but he had a pass that led to two Nik Koprivica free throws and a steal of a Patrick Christopher pass.

Koprivica was also thrown into emergency post defender duty, guarding Anderson for long stretches the first half.

“Coach mentioned before the game, be ready,” said Henry, who played 8 minutes. “I’m not best at knowing all the offenses, and I’ll say when (Bennett) was calling the plays in the huddle, I would say (to assistant coach Matt), ‘Woodley, what do I do here?’

“But for the most part I know the motion, so it’s cool.”

“That was huge,” Cowgill said of Henry’s effort. “He came in and was ready from the get-go.”

“We didn’t have anymore options,” said Bennett, talking not only about Henry but the 6-6 Koprivica’s defense on the 6-10 Anderson as well. “I’ve always said all hands on deck and you saw that motto come to fruition today.”

Despite the Cougs’ makeshift defense, Anderson only had eight first-half shots, while Hardin, who had 10 rebounds on the night, added one and reserve big man Harper Kamp had two.

The Bears went long periods of the first half ignoring their advantage inside. At one point midway through, eight of nine Cal shots were 3-pointers (the only one that wasn’t: a putback of a missed 3), seven of which missed.