Unblemished!
PULLMAN – Winning is starting to look routine for Washington State, which is, of course, anything but routine based on its recent and even its not-so-recent history.
The Cougars, with a 62-50 win Wednesday night over Portland, moved to 7-0, matching their second-best start in the last 58 years.
(The 1991-92 team started the season 12-0.)
This one, like so many of their non-conference games thus far, wasn’t much of a contest.
“I’ll take that. I really will,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “This is all part of the learning process for me as a first-year coach and our team as we try to find our identity. But I think every team is trying to find its identity right now.”
Bennett took this particular home game as an opportunity to experiment, starting a bigger lineup with forward Daven Harmeling on the floor instead of point guard Mac Hopson.
The experiment didn’t work all that well, with WSU starting the first half sluggishly on offense. But defensive intensity more than made up for it, as Portland had 15 turnovers by halftime and 22 for the game.
An 11-3 run to start the second half put the game away for good, and made any chance of Portland (2-5) pulling off an upset remote.
“We just got some more movement and probably shared the ball a little bit more,” said Harmeling, who tied for game high with 12 points. “We could pretty much get shots whenever we wanted.”
In addition to Harmeling’s dozen points – this was only his second career start – fellow forward Ivory Clark chipped in 12 points and a team-high six rebounds, as well as four blocks.
“Ivory’s an amazing defender,” Harmeling said. “I think he’s the best in the Pac-10. I’ll say that and stand by it every day.
“I hate going against him in practice.”
The Cougars defense looked even better going up against a Portland team still struggling to find its way.
Another first-year head coach, former Stanford assistant Eric Reveno, said his team has a long way to go in learning some basic offensive fundamentals, deficiencies that proved problematic before the 2,208 fans in attendance at Friel Court.
The Pilots were just 15 of 41 from the floor, and made one 3-pointer on 11 attempts.
“They’re always in the right place at the right time,” Reveno said. “Washington State will allow you to run offense. … You don’t get points for running offense. You’ve still got to shoot it.”
Things weren’t rosy in every way for WSU, though, in a game in which it held 20-point leads on multiple occasions in the second half.
Center Aron Baynes, playing in only his second game this season, showed more than he did Saturday in a shaky minute of play against Boise State.
But the sophomore picked up a technical foul for taunting after dunking the ball with 12:32 to go in the game.
The dunk was his first field goal of the season. The technical earned him a place on the bench and a tongue-lashing from Bennett.
After the game, Baynes apologized to both coaches and his teammates.
“I let my emotions get the better of me,” he said. “I’ve got to put that out of my mind now.”
Notes
Nikola Koprivica of Washington State saw his first collegiate action, playing 16 minutes and canning a pair of 3-pointers from the corner. … Eight Cougars had steals and the team finished with 12 in all. … For Portland, Jamie Jones led the way with 12 points and nine rebounds. … The Cougars shot just 3 of 10 from the free-throw line in the first half.
WSU 62, Portland 50
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| Portland (2-6) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Watson | 26 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Jones | 35 | 3-12 | 6-6 | 4-9 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Sullivan | 17 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 1-4 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Thompson | 18 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| McTear | 28 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Field | 18 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Niedermeyer | 14 | 1-1 | 4-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Ito | 25 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Jackson | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Emerson | 9 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Carter | 4 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 200 | 15-44 | 19-26 | 12-35 | 5 | 15 | 50 |
Percentages: FG .341, FT .731. 3-Point Goals: 1-11, .091 (Ito 1-4, Watson 0-2, Thompson 0-1, McTear 0-1, Emerson 0-2, Carter 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 1 (Jones). Turnovers: 22 (Thompson 7, Emerson 4, Jones 3, McTear 3, Ito 3, Sullivan 2). Steals: 4 (Watson, Jones, McTear, Carter). Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| Washington State (7-0) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Harmeling | 27 | 5-8 | 0-3 | 0-1 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Clark | 26 | 6-10 | 0-0 | 3-6 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Cowgill | 19 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 1-3 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Low | 32 | 3-9 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Weaver | 20 | 3-5 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Hopson | 18 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Koprivica | 16 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Matthews | 13 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rochestie | 15 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Baynes | 7 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Henry | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Forrest | 5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 200 | 24-50 | 9-18 | 8-28 | 14 | 23 | 62 |
Percentages: FG .480, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: 5-15, .333 (Koprivica 2-2, Harmeling 2-5, Hopson 1-2, Clark 0-1, Matthews 2-2). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 7 (Clark 4, Weaver, Hopson, Rochestie). Turnovers: 16 (Clark 3, Matthews 3, Harmeling 2, Weaver 2, Hopson 2, Low, Rochestie, Haynes). Steals: 12 (Clark 3, Hopson 3, Low 2, Harmeling, Cowgill, Weaver, Rochestie). Technical Fouls: Baynes.
Halftime–Washington State 32, Portland 20. A–2208.