WSU Gets Even Quietly Cougars Beat Canisius 73-62 And Avenge Nit Loss In March

There was talk all week about revenge.

Washington State wanted some against Canisius, the team that knocked the Cougars out of the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament last March.

But when the two teams finally tipped it off in Friday’s opening game of the Carrier Classic, the talk stopped and the Cougars went about exacting that revenge in a very business-like manner.

Senior forward Mark Hendrickson, with 20 points and 14 rebounds, registered the 32nd double-double of his career and Isaac Fontaine added 17 points in a 73-62 victory that propelled the Cougars into tonight’s championship game against host Syracuse.

The Orangemen, who have won 16 of the 18 Carrier Classics that have been staged in the vastness of their 33,000-seat Carrier Dome, earned their way into another title game with an 83-60 win over Columbia in Friday’s nightcap.

Tonight’s final will be televised live on Prime Sports Northwest at 5, and it should make for an interesting evening, especially if WSU can show the same composure and resolve it showed against Canisius.

The Cougars (3-0) defended wonderfully, dominated the boards and cooly withstood a second-half bombing run by the Griffins’ Darrell Barley and Mickey Frazier, who combined to make eight of their nine 3-pointers after intermission.

Barley, who was 5 for 6 from 3-point range, finished with 24 points and Frazier added 17. But the Griffins got very little production from their front line as Hendrickson, Tavares Mack and Carlos Daniel muscled up inside.

The revenge was obviously sweet, but hardly discussed during or after the game.

“It was on our minds leading up to the game,” Hendrickson admitted, “but we tried to do a good job of blocking it out.”

The Cougars’ mindset was noticeable from the opening tip as they immediately set about beating the Griffins (3-2) to every loose ball with little or no fanfare.

“They’re a great team,” Barley said. “But compared to other teams, they were kind of serene and quiet. They didn’t do much talking.”

The Cougars jumped to an early 20-13 lead, showing few ill-effects from not having played since Nov. 26, when they blasted Eastern Washington 90-58 in their home opener.

Canisius, behind 3-pointers by Barley and Frazier less than a minute into the second half, tied the game at 33 and was trailing by only 44-43 with 14 minutes left.

But then Daniel, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in a reserve role, scored on a short jump-hook and Hendrickson threw down a baseline dunk to ignite a decisive 15-5 run.

Down the stretch, with Canisius trying to foul at every opportunity, the Cougars made 12 of 14 free throws and did a decent job of playing keep-away.

WSU coach Kevin Eastman said the game was the kind of “knock-down, drag-out affair” he expected. But he admitted that Hendrickson was just too much for the Griffins to handle.

“Mark, I thought, did a tremendous job - especially on the boards,” Eastman said. “Fourteen rebounds is a lot, but it seemed to me like it was even more than that.

“And if they had a stat in college basketball called ‘key rebounds,’ Mark had a number of those, too.”

Canisius coach John Beilein called the loss “very disappointing.

“But it was obvious that we got beat by a bigger, quicker and better team,” he added.

The Griffins played without starting point guard Javone Moore, who sprained an ankle earlier this week in an 82-75 win over Buffalo.

“That takes a little of our timing away,” Beilein said of Moore’s absence. “With him, maybe we get the ball 4 feet from the basket instead of 6, or maybe our 3-pointers are even less contested because of what he does sometimes off the dribble.

“But Washington State beat us, too.”

Washington St. 73, Canisius 62

WASHINGTON STATE (3-0)

Hendrickson 9-12 2-3 20, Fontaine 5-13 4-5 17, Mack 2-5 4-5 8, Antrum 3-13 0-0 7, Ellison 3-5 4-4 11, Daniel 5-8 0-0 10, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Scott 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 14-17 73.

CANISIUS (3-2)

Meeks 2-13 2-2 6, Barley 9-15 1-2 24, Collins 4-11 0-2 8, Frazier 6-12 1-1 17, Thompson 3-9 0-0 7, Worley 0-5 0-0 0, Lambkin 0-2 0-0 0, DuPree 0-0 0-0 0, Cammert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-67 4-7 62.

Halftime-Washington St. 33, Canisius 27. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 5-17 (Fontaine 3-4, Antrum 1-5, Ellison 1-3, Scott 0-2, Hendrickson 0-3), Canisius 10-23 (Barley 5-6, Frazier 4-7, Thompson 1-5, Meeks 0-1, Worley 0-2, Lambkin 0-2) Fouled out-Daniel. Rebounds-Washington St. 46 (Hendrickson 14), Canisius 33 (Collins 8). Assists-Washington St. 19 (Ellison 6), Canisius 13 (Barley, Thompson 4). Total fouls- Washington St. 11, Canisius 15. A-NA.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo