Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

WSU-UI hoops: Cougs’ DaVonte Lacy, Vandals’ Sekou Wiggs familiar foes

PULLMAN – The four-year-old rivalry between DaVonte Lacy and Sekou Wiggs may not be ancient like the annual contest between Washington State and Idaho, but it has its own history.

There has always been a competitive spirit between basketball players that hail from Tacoma and Seattle. Lacy and Wiggs prepped for two of the cities’ respective basketball powers – Lacy at Tacoma’s Curtis High and Wiggs at Seattle’s O’Dea – so when they met at a camp for elite college basketball prospects it was only natural that the two would face off.

And they still do in college as part of the oldest continuous college basketball rivalry outside of the Ivy League. The teams play once a year – for the 109th time, tonight, in Beasley Coliseum at 7 p.m. – and in scrimmages and pickup games during the summer.

“Ever since then it’s been kind of a rivalry,” Lacy said. “It’s always friendly after (the games) but me and him, it’s kind of Seattle-Tacoma, WSU-Idaho. “And it’s been competitive, lately, as the Cougars escaped Moscow last season with a 67-66 victory after Idaho’s last-second shot caromed off the back of the rim.

Lacy leads the Cougars (3-3) in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game, while Wiggs’ 12.2 points per game is No. 2 for the Vandals as he adjusts to a starting role after being UI’s first player off the bench as a freshman last season.

Mike Scott leads the Vandals (2-3) with 16.4 points per game.

“We’re going to have to work our tails off, home or on the road, and that’s a good thing for us because those are the type of games that force you to grow and right now we need to be forced to grow.” said coach Ernie Kent.

The Cougars appear to be on the upswing after winning the final two games of their appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout. Lacy scored 31 points in their last game, an overtime win over Missouri State, and sophomore forward Josh Hawkinson is averaging 14.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

After tinkering with different lineups in the team’s first four games, Kent appears to have settled on a starting unit of Hawkinson, Lacy, forward Junior Longrus, guard Ike Iroegbu and freshman point guard Ny Redding, who had 21 assists in WSU’s three tournament games.

“We will stick with it as long as we’re having success with it,” Kent said. “It’s the group we’re going with now as we try and find out who we are and our identity.”

The Cougars have even shown an ultra-small lineup lately that trades size for athleticism with 6-foot-2 guard Iroegbu playing as a power forward.