WSU basketball looking for first Pac-12 Tourney win in 8 years

LAS VEGAS – The Washington State Cougars will try to win their first Pac-12 Tournament game since 2009 on Wednesday at 6 p.m. against an opponent, Colorado, that is almost always beatable but never easy.

WSU (13-17) finished tied for ninth place in the Pac-12 with Stanford but is the tournament’s 10th seed, having lost its only game against Stanford earlier this year. CU (18-13) is the No. 7 seed. The winner of Wednesday’s game will play No. 2 seed Arizona, which is ranked seventh overall in the Associated Press Top-25 poll.

This marks the second consecutive year the teams have faced off in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament. The teams have played an overtime game at least once in each of the last four seasons.

“We’re a good matchup for them,” WSU coach Ernie Kent said. “The two programs have had some close games over the years, but they dominated us last game. They were a lot more physical than we were and played with a lot more energy in that game.”

WSU beat the Buffaloes in a tight overtime game earlier this season in Pullman. But the game in Boulder was uncharacteristically lopsided. Kent blamed the blowout loss to the Cougars not responding to CU’s physical style of play.

Senior forward Josh Hawkinson said that won’t be a problem on Wednesday.

“We feel like we can really set the tone early,” Hawkinson said. “That’s going to be key for us, to get off to a fast start. On the road they went on a big run to start the game and we never really got back from that.”

The Cougars have lost their first game of the losers-out Pac-12 Tournament in eight consecutive seasons. Three of the last six were decided by five points or fewer.

The Cougars were last invited to another postseason tournament at the end of the 2011-12 season, meaning no player on the current roster has won an NCAA postseason game. The last time WSU won a conference tournament game, it was over Kent’s Oregon Ducks in 2009.

“(A win) would mean a lot. It’s just an important time in terms of progress and moving forward,” Kent said. “Number one is to win the game, play well, be locked in and those types of things. If we are locked and focused, we are a good basketball team. We’ve had some great games this season when we’ve been there.”

After the WSU-Colorado game, No. 11 Washington (9-21) will meet No. 6 USC (23-8).