Cougs remain unbeaten

PULLMAN – This one wasn’t quite as easy as the four before it, but the result was the same.

Washington State scuffled along against a scrappy Idaho State team Tuesday night before pulling away in the second half and surviving a last minute barrage. The 66-60 win before a holiday week crowd of 1,566 at Friel Court gave the Cougars a 5-0 start, and made Tony Bennett the first coach in Cougar history to start his career with that mark.

“In the past that’s a game we would have lost,” WSU forward Daven Harmeling said. “Maybe they would have made the run instead of us.”

The run, in this instance, was a 17-2 burst over six minutes midway through the second half that turned a four-point deficit into a double-digit lead.

Point guard Mac Hopson had a key four-point play in the midst of that stretch, but it was primarily the play of fellow guard Derrick Low and Harmeling, who had missed time because of an ankle sprain before Tuesday night.

Low scored a game-high 22 points and showed an aggressiveness rarely seen in the junior’s first two years at WSU, at times taking the game into his hands by breaking down Idaho State’s 1-2-2 zone for mid-range buckets.

“He wanted the ball and he was aggressive,” Bennett said. “He hunted his shot, and trust me, they knew where he was at every moment.”

For much of the game, the zone played by the Bengals (1-3) gave the Cougars some serious problems on offense, but some transition buckets as well as Harmeling’s ability to work the ball out of the high post helped save WSU.

Despite the injury, Harmeling was the first player in off of WSU’s bench and played 27 minutes. In that time he scored 11 points, tied for second-best on the team alongside Kyle Weaver.

“I got myself ready to go in soon mentally because I knew they were probably going to throw the zone at us, and I think my game is tailor-fit for that,” said Harmeling, who added that the ankle was not as problematic as overall conditioning after missing practices. “Pop in the gaps, turn around and shoot 15-footers, draw the defense to the corners.”

Before playing Idaho State, the Cougars had not trailed in a second half all season, and had led by at least 24 points in each of its first four games. But the Bengals offered much more resistance, leading 28-27 at halftime before WSU finally took control.

“We got some transition baskets, made some shots, and then our defense starting tightening up,” Bennett said. “They had to hit pretty much contested shots.

“That’s our battle cry. You’re going to have to play hopefully 40 minutes against us. And we’re going to be there for the whole time.”