WSU’s Thompson just getting warmed up

Freshman Klay Thompson is on a roll. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard has increased his Pac-10 scoring average to 15.2 points per game while hitting 51.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. He’s scored 25 and 20 points in WSU’s last two contests.

“He’s been real solid,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “He’s, at times, creating his own shot. He’s playing a little sounder (with) good shot selection. You’re seeing his range.

“He’s just improving. He’s a heck of player. He’s got a nice future as he gets stronger.”

Thompson is fourth on the Cougars’ freshman scoring list with 332 points. He should pass Mark Hendrickson (339 points in 1993) tonight. Second on the list is George Hamilton, who scored 352 points in 1945. Steve Puidokas, second on WSU’s career scoring list, leads the freshmen with 454 points in 1974.

Thompson is second among all Washington State freshmen in scoring average (13.3), field goals (127) and 3-point field goals (54). He could pass Bennie Seltzer (62 in 1990) in the latter category this weekend.

Then there were three

Gonzaga’s home schedule is down to three games, including tonight’s contest with Loyola Marymount and Saturday’s date with Pepperdine. South Carolina Upstate visits the McCarthey Athletic Center on March 3.

“I think about it sometimes and I don’t know where the time has gone,” senior forward Micah Downs said. “It seems like we just started the season not too long ago. We gotta make every one of them count, especially us seniors, and really cherish these last few games.”

Head coach Mark Few said the pace of each season varies.

“Sometimes they fly by, sometimes they grind by,” he said. “These seasons are journeys and your teams go through all sorts of experiences – positives, negatives, drastic downturns that have people panicking, days of exhilaration. You just try to keep riding the train to the end of the journey.”

With a victory tonight, the Zags (19-5, 10-0 WCC) can clinch the No. 1 seed for the WCC tournament and no worse than a share of the conference championship.

“It would be really nice,” senior guard Jeremy Pargo said. “It’s always big to do things in front of the home crowd and give the fans a chance to see things in person.”

WSU-ASU on TV

Washington State’s final home game against Arizona State has been added to FSN’s television schedule and will tipoff at 2 p.m.