Tough on defense

PULLMAN – Washington State wasted little time Tuesday night showing Canisius College how big a gap there is between the two schools’ basketball programs.

It took about 11 minutes and resulted in 24 consecutive WSU points.

The stretch, built on defense, led to the Cougars’ fourth consecutive rout, 67-41 over the Golden Griffins before a Thanksgiving-break crowd of 6,091 at Beasley Coliseum.

“Our coaches talk about getting gaps, which is three stops in a row,” said point guard Taylor Rochestie, who finished with 17 points. “That’s important to us. We don’t want to just trade baskets, we want to mount the stops on top of each other.

“We’re learning day in and day out the shots are going to fall sometimes, but sometimes they won’t.

“If you play good defense, you’re going to have a chance to win at the end of the game.”

Though the Cougars hang their reputation on defense, it has been their offensive efficiency that’s carried them most of this season. But not against the Golden Griffins.

WSU shot 42.4 percent from the floor, including just 40 percent in a first half the Cougars led 39-15. They turned it over 11 times in the second half and 15 overall, including four by Rochestie. Yet Canisius (1-3) never got closer than the final margin in the last 10 minutes.

“We’re happy to be a defensive team,” Rochestie said. “Coach keeps telling us the defense is going to keep us in the game.”

The Cougars started building gaps 5 minutes into the game, when Canisius led 9-7. Over the next 11:08, the Griffins missed 10 shots, turned it over seven times and were dominated on the glass, 16-6.

It’s that last statistic that pleased WSU coach Tony Bennett the most, as rebounding has been a point of emphasis this week.

“They were a physical team, you could see that, and I thought our guys pursued the ball better for the most part,” Bennett said. “They did battle, and they did it from start to finish, which was important to me.”

“That’s a testament to our guards, rebounding,” center Aron Baynes said. “They got it done for us on the defensive glass.”

Though the guards – Klay Thompson, who added 15 points; Nik Koprivica; Rochestie; Marcus Capers; and Abe Lodwick – combined for 16 rebounds, it was Baynes who had the most to do with WSU’s 44-27 rebound edge, including a 17-9 margin on the offensive glass.

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound center was matched up with Canisius’ leading scorer (17.3 points) and rebounder (9.5) coming in, the 6-foot-8, 325-pound Chris Gadley.

Gadley finished with 13 points (on 14 shots) and zero rebounds.

“It was definitely a lot more difficult than I thought it would be,” Gadley said. “It was tough when you have Baynes, who’s about 6-10, and their guys collapsing on you. It was difficult.”

“We handled him pretty well,” said Baynes, who finished with eight rebounds and seven points. “On defense, we started trapping and that threw them out of their offense. And as soon as we started fronting and keeping the ball out of his hands, that upset their offense (more).”

Baynes wasn’t alone, as freshman DeAngelo Casto (Ferris High) came off the bench and matched up with Gadley as well, finishing with six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Still, despite the 4-0 start, despite having games in which they shot the lights out from beyond the arc (as opposed to the 6-of-23 effort against Canisius), despite setting the pace in the Pac-10 in points allowed, the Cougars aren’t satisfied. Especially with a challenging weekend ahead in New Jersey at the Legends Classic.

“To be honest, I still don’t know” how good the Cougars are, said Daven Harmeling, who had 10 points. “There have been some positives … but every time you look at film it’s like, ‘You can’t have that breakdown against a big time team, they’ll make you pay for those mistakes.’ I don’t think we’re there yet.”

In other words, there are still some gaps.

Notes

Freshman guard Mike Harthun has been suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules. He did not suit up and will not make the trip to New Jersey. Bennett would not say what the violation entailed. … Casto hit the floor hard as time ran out in the first half, courtesy of an intentional foul by Greg Logins. After lying on the floor a while, the freshman arose and hit 1 of 2 free throws. … Caleb Forrest added seven rebounds, including a team-high four on the offensive end. … WSU leaves Pullman today for Newark. The Cougars will practice there Thursday morning.