Cougs continue winning ways
MOSCOW, Idaho – The excitement level wasn’t the same, the level of play wasn’t the same, but the result was good enough for Washington State.
The Cougars, playing their first game since knocking off Gonzaga on Tuesday night, took the short trip across the state line to Idaho and came back with a 66-54 victory in front of 1,981 at Cowan Spectrum on Saturday night.
The game seemed somewhat bizarre from the start, given an unusually late start time and the buzz surrounding the game about Idaho football coach Dennis Erickson’s decision to leave for Arizona State.
Because of graduation ceremonies and a women’s game that took place in the same space earlier in the day, WSU (9-1) and Idaho (1-8) didn’t tip off until 9:54 p.m., with the second half starting just a few minutes before 11.
“We should have worn our pajamas tonight,” said Cougars coach Tony Bennett. “Call it Coaches vs. Narcolepsy.”
WSU trailed only once, after Idaho’s Keoni Watson scored the game’s first basket. But after a Derrick Low 3-pointer on the next possession, the Cougars coasted through much of the contest.
The Cougars maintained a double-digit lead for all but a few early moments of the second half, even though the game never got badly out of hand.
Part of the reason for that may have been the Cougars’ somewhat lackluster play, especially on the defensive end. Watson was repeatedly able to drive through the Cougars defense to the bucket, and a large percentage of Idaho’s points came around the basket.
Watson again led the Vandals and all scorers with 24 points. But WSU was able to strip him of the ball enough – the guard had six turnovers – that he alone never seriously threatened the Cougars lead.
With both teams taking the ball to the bucket on numerous possessions, pileups and scrums for the ball were a common sight, almost reminiscent at times of the 37-36 game these two teams played on the same court two years earlier.
Rebounding, usually a WSU bugaboo this season, was a strength against the undersized Vandals, who were playing without injured power forward Mike Kale. The Cougars outrebounded Idaho 21-12 in the first half, 34-30 for the game.
Daven Harmeling, fresh off of a career-high 20 points against Gonzaga, helped lead the way with a career-high seven rebounds.
Mac Hopson, who had orally committed to Idaho before signing a letter of intent at WSU last off-season, came off the bench to score a team-high (and a career-high) 14 points to lead the Cougars. Guard Derrick Low also had 14 points for WSU.
Notes
Idaho guard Mario Mackey, who started seven games as a junior college transfer this season, said from the stands during halftime that he has quit the team. Mackey, originally from Aurora, Colo., said he’s interested in playing elsewhere but has not talked to any other schools yet. “It just wasn’t working out,” said Mackey, who was the team’s second-leading scorer at 10 points a game. … The crowd was split fairly evenly, with two sections on one side of the Cowan Spectrum court taken up by traveling WSU fans.