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

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WSU’s Capers comes into his own


COUGARS

Washington State's basketball team left a snowy Eastern Washington today, headed for California and a date with Santa Clara tomorrow night in the Bay Area. Lucky sons of guns. After facing the Broncos, it's off to Hawaii and the Diamond Head Classic in the islands. Lucky sons of guns. To get you Cougar fans ready, we have a story on the unsung hero in WSU's 7-1 start. Read on.
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• Though it's really impossible to put in a full-time work load right now, we've been able to squeeze a couple things in. One was an interview with Marcus Capers, the Cougar wing who is playing about as well as anyone on the West Coast right now. No, Capers isn't averaging 20 points a night, but the 6-foot-4 junior does so many things for WSU it's hard to document. Most of the chores Capers performs on the basketball court, like shadowing the best outside player on the opposition, is uncharted – though holding Jacob Pullen and Steven Gray to 4-21 shooting in consecutive games is pretty good documentation. If you need numbers, his rebounding totals of 6.1 per game – the 15 he had against Southern was a career high – and his national-best assists-to-turnovers ration of 5.8 should fill your need. But Capers, the left-hander from Florida, has done more than just defend and post numbers. His steadiness out front helped keep the Cougars together while Reggie Moore was out. His toughness is unmatched. And his dunks? Well, they are more than crowd pleasers. They are momentum changers. We put together this feature on Capers to serve as an advance for Sunday night's game and the trip ahead. Enjoy.

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• That's all for now. We'll be back when we can. Until then ...

Vince Grippi

Vince Grippi is a freelance local sports blogger for spokesman.com.

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