Cougars tune up against Lewis-Clark

PULLMAN – It was an exhibition, after all.

Which means, it seems, it was time for the Washington State Cougars to exhibit their talents.

And that they did – returnees and rookies alike – in a 76-31 rout of the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors.

Despite the lopsided nature of the contest – WSU led 30-4 after 13 minutes and 44-15 at halftime – LCSC coach Tim Walker was just happy to be able to make the 35-mile trek from Lewiston on Monday night.

“It’s always a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s an honor they allow us to come up and play and compete. I wish we could play better. I wish they can get more out of it.”

They got enough.

“We came out with the right kind of intensity,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “That’s what we really wanted to try to establish. … And we got to see a lot of guys play, which is good.”

It was especially good for the 5,091 who took advantage of the free admission to Beasley Coliseum.

They got to see freshman Klay Thompson start and assist on the game’s first basket, a 21-footer from senior Taylor Rochestie. They also got to see Thompson hit the Cougars’ next two shots, both from long range, as WSU scored the game’s first 12 points.

They had their first glimpse of a slimmer Aron Baynes, as the 6-foot-10 senior dominated inside, scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

“He’s trimmed down, you can see that,” Bennett said of Baynes, who dropped 20 pounds over the offseason. “He’s worked really hard on his fitness, his agility with his feet. You would come into the gym and see him by himself with cones set up early in the morning in the summer.”

And they saw two other true freshmen – DeAngelo Casto and Marcus Capers – and one redshirt – Abe Lodwick – stake strong claims for playing time.

Casto, from Ferris High, was the most dominating, hitting 7 of 8 shots en route to a game-high 18 points in 19 minutes. He also was credited with one block and altered a handful of other attempts.

“You certainly saw him go up and block some shots,” Bennett said. “He has a natural timing. And he has a nice feel for the game, he really does.”

Capers seems ticketed to back up Rochestie at the point – he had two each of assists, turnovers and points – while Thompson is penciled in at the shooting guard, backed up at times by Lodwick, who was 3 of 3 beyond the arc.

Thompson seemed to take the shooting guard title literally, with a team-high 10 attempts, three of which went in.

“A lot of those freshmen, I know they were excited for their first opportunity to play,” Bennett said. “I thought they shared the ball well and did what they had to do. They’re hungry to get a shot up, if the shot’s there, they were aggressive.”

“If I have an open shot, I’m going to take it,” Thompson said. “I think that’s what the coaches want, the other players want me to do.”

“I know you asked him, but we’re all fine with Klay shooting whenever he touches the ball,” senior Daven Harmeling interjected. “He’s that schooled. He’s that good.”

Center Drew Arnold was the only Warrior (1-2 and ranked 22nd in the NAIA national preseason poll) in double figures with 12 points. LCSC shot 19.6 percent from the floor, missed all of its seven 3-point attempts and was outrebounded by 17.

But the most important thing the exhibition did was help the Cougars define their rotation.

“I think so,” Bennett answered when asked if he was getting closer to finding out which freshmen would play significant minutes with the Cougars’ five veterans. “Competition will reveal if they really can, but in my mind I feel like we’re eight or nine solid.”

Washington St. 76, LCSC 31

 Lewis-Clark St. (31) — McIntosh 1-7 1-2 3, Arnold 6-13 0-0 12, Duckworth 0-8 2-2 2, Allen 0-9 3-4 3, Gordon 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 0-1 3-6 3, Simon 1-4 0-0 2, Riley 1-2 2-2 4, Mallari 1-5 0-0 2, Packwood 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 10-51 11-16 31.

Washington St. (76) — Capers 1-2 0-0 2, Thompson 3-10 0-0 8, Harthun 4-7 0-0 9, Koprivica 1-2 2-2 5, Lodwick 3-3 0-0 9, Rochestie 2-2 0-0 5, Baynes 4-7 2-6 10, Watson 1-5 0-0 2, Casto 7-8 4-5 18, Bailey 0-1 0-0 0, Harmeling 0-2 0-0 0, Enquist 0-1 0-0 0, Witherill 1-4 0-0 2, Forrest 3-3 0-0 6, Totals 30-57 8-13 76.

Halftime–WSU 44, LCSC 15. 3-point goals–LCSC 0-7 (McIntosh 0-1, Duckworth 0-3, Allen 0-1, Mallari 0-2), WSU 8-18 (Thompson 2-6, Harthun 1-2, Koprivica 1-2, Lodwick 3-3, Rochestie 1-1, Harmeling 0-2). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–LCSC 27 (McIntosh 9), WSU 44 (Baynes 11). Assists–LCSC 10 (McIntosh 2), WSU 20 (Rochestie 6). Total fouls–LCSC 13, WSU 16. A–5,091.