WSU gets past Long Beach, 85-74

• If you just tuned in to watch the first half of this game, you might have thought Long Beach’s Casper Ware was awful. Marcus Capers was denying him all over the court and when the Big West player of the year got the ball, the Cougars doubled the ball-screen so effectively, there was only an occasional open look. And those weren’t going in. If you just tuned in to watch the second half, you might have thought Ware was an All-American. He was that explosive in the final 20 minutes. But an 18-point halftime lead is usually too much to overcome on the road, even if Beasley wasn’t its usual rambunctious self. … Klay Thompson didn’t 43 like he did against Washington, but he did put together an effective 25-point, seven-rebound, two-block, four-assist night. And Faisal Aden played within the offense effectively, hitting 7-of-12 shots en route to 19 points. Reggie Moore had five assists and hit a huge second-half, shot-clock-beating 3-pointer. DeAngelo Casto erased four shots and added 13 points and seven rebounds. And Abe Lodwick (seven rebounds), Brock Motum (eight points) and Marcus Capers (stellar defense and two dunks – he walked by and told me he hadn’t dunked in about eight games, so he felt like it was old times) all contributed. … So WSU faces Oklahoma State on Monday here in the Palouse. The schools have met just once, in 2004. You might remember it. The Cowboys won 81-29 in Dick Bennett’s second year – and the freshman year of Derrick Low, Robbie Cowgill, Kyle Weaver, et al. Those players always looked at that game as the low point, and the beginning of their march to the Sweet Sixteen three seasons later. … OK, our story is on the website. Here’s the link .

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• That’s about it for now. We’ll be back in the morning. Until then …