Defensive WSU nips Huskies

SEATTLE – If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Washington State Cougars should consider themselves flattered. Because they almost got flattened a few times Saturday night by the new-look Washington Huskies.

New look, yes. But an old result.

WSU pulled itself off the court – literally and figuratively – down the stretch to grab a 56-52, Pac-10-men’s basketball opening victory from UW before a sellout crowd of 10,000 at Bank of America Arena.

It was WSU’s sixth consecutive win over the Huskies and the third in a row in Seattle.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said an obviously drained Tony Bennett. “Washington has certainly improved defensively this year.”

The physical nature of both team’s defensive efforts – both Kyle Weaver and Taylor Rochestie fell to the floor in the second half after hard hits – makes it appropriate an old rugby player, WSU’s 6-foot-10, 270-pound junior center Aron Baynes, should come up big.

The Huskies (9-5) led most of the game, thanks in large part to a 15-2 early first-half run. Still, the Cougars never trailed by more than seven and were behind 20-17 at the half.

“Our defense won us the game,” Bennett said. “It held us in the first half when we were struggling offensively and then in the last 10 minutes.”

The fourth-ranked Cougars raised their record to 13-0 despite shooting 26.1 percent in the opening half – worst of the season – and 42.6 overall – ditto. They were outrebounded 36-24 – including 17 by UW’s Jon Brockman.

But they compensated by taking care of the ball – seven turnovers, half UW’s total – and holding UW to 43.8 percent shooting, including 1 of 10 from the floor in the final five minutes.

Despite those numbers, the Cougars’ first lead didn’t come until there were 7 minutes, 39 seconds left to play, a 45-43 edge courtesy of Derrick Low’s fastbreak layup, one of only six fastbreak points the teams had combined.

A short-lived lead it was, as the Huskies turned two offensive rebounds – they had 10 in the second half – into five points and a 48-45 lead.

Then a well-rested Baynes – he sat almost 10 minutes of the second-half with three fouls – took over.

With the Cougars trailing by three with 6 minutes left, he overpowered Artem Wallace, dunked and hit the ensuing free throw for the last of his team-high 16 points. A minute later he set a screen for Low, who drained an open 3, his first of the night.

After UW’s Tim Morris, the Stanford transfer who ignited the first-half run and led the Huskies with a career-high 16 points, missed two free throws, Rochestie answered with only his second basket, a 6-foot floater over Morris as the shot clock ran out, and WSU led 53-48.

It was just enough. In the final 2:32, Weaver, an 85 percent free-throw shooter, missed two free throws, the Cougars sent Justin Dentmon and Brockman, who finished with 14 points, to the line – they each hit 1 of 2, part of UW’s 5-of-13 showing – and the Huskies grabbed five offensive rebounds.

Still, WSU led 54-52 when Bennett used a timeout with 27.2 seconds left.

“(Baynes) said, ‘Let’s not double, I’ve got Brockman,’ the last few possessions and I thought he did a good job of sliding his feet,” the Cougar coach said. “They tried to isolate him and take it at him and, as big as he is, for him to spread out and make that play, it’s impressive.”

Isolated just like UW wanted, Baynes stayed with the 6-7 Brockman’s spin move and still contested his shot. It missed, Weaver skied for his ninth board and was fouled with 15 seconds left.

This time he hit both to finish with 13 points, the Huskies’ Ryan Appleby dribbled around for at least 5 seconds before missing, Robbie Cowgill grabbed his sixth rebound and WSU had escaped.

“The last five minutes … I said ‘All we can do is make them work to get contested shots … and try to get quality shots,’ ” Bennett said. “As simple as that sounds, that’s kind of our philosophy in a nutshell.”

It worked but those last five minutes wouldn’t have mattered if it weren’t for some contributions from the Cougar wounded, Daven Harmeling (fractured shooting thumb two weeks ago) and Caleb Forrest (sprained ankle Tuesday).

Harmeling, who had his right thumb in a splint, played 21 minutes and nailed two 3-pointers – WSU was 4 of 14 but hit three of its last four – in the middle of the second half.

“The first one I had Vanderbilt flashbacks, same corner, and as I was rising up I was thinking about Vanderbilt, ” said Harmeling, who missed a game-winner against the Commodores in last season’s NCAA tournament. “I said, ‘Not this time.’ “

He could just as well have been talking about the Huskies chances of ending their losing streak against their cross-state rivals.

WSU 56, Washington 52

Percentages: FG .426, FT .857. 3-Point Goals: 4-14, .286 (Low 1-5, Rochestie 0-2, Weaver 1-2, Koprivica 0-2, Harmeling 2-3). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 6 (Cowgill 3, Baynes 2, Weaver). Turnovers: 7 (Cowgill, Rochestie 2, Weaver 2, Koprivica, Harmeling). Steals: 10 (Baynes 3, Low, Rochestie 3, Weaver 2, Harmeling). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .438, FT .385. 3-Point Goals: 5-11, .455 (Morris 2-2, Appleby 2-6, Dentmon 1-1, Pondexter 0-2). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 1 (Morris). Turnovers: 14 (Brockman, Smith, Morris 2, Appleby 4, Overton, Dentmon 3, Bryan-Manning, Pondexter). Steals: 3 (Morris, Dentmon 2). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Washington 20, Washington State 17. A–10,000.