As wins go, this one ranks up there

PULLMAN – Not that everyone in the crowd wasn’t already thinking it, but Washington State public address announcer Glenn Johnson felt the need to state the obvious on Saturday night.

“Maybe now they’ll be in the Top 25, huh?” he asked, and the fans who had already stormed Friel Court roared back with approval.

Maybe, indeed, after their Cougars scored the team’s biggest win in decades, having blown a chance for victory in regulation only to grab it in overtime anyway, 77-73, against seventh-ranked Arizona.

The Cougars hadn’t beaten a team ranked this highly since taking out No. 6 UCLA in 1983 – and perhaps not coincidentally, that was the same season which last saw a WSU team crack the polls. At 14-2 and 3-1 in the Pac-10, and already hovering just a few spots outside the Top 25, this win might just do the trick.

“It would mean so much, so much,” senior Ivory Clark said. “More than just a ranking for us, it’s a lot of respect.”

The Cougars led by five with 35.7 seconds left in the second half after a Robbie Cowgill free throw, but a Marcus Williams lay-in, followed by a pair of missed free throws by Kyle Weaver, allowed Arizona’s Ivan Radenovic to bury a 3-pointer to tie the game. WSU point guard Derrick Low committed an offensive foul with 8.5 seconds left, but the Cougars managed to force another Radenovic 3 off line as time expired.

In the overtime session – in yet another sign that this bunch may have a similar roster but bears almost no resemblance to recent Cougar teams – WSU jumped out to a quick four-point lead and never trailed, sitting on the ball on offense and patiently allowing the clock to run out on Arizona.

“They showed tremendous heart. It just was a joy to be a part of that game,” Cougar coach Tony Bennett said. “We were running on fumes at the end. … We thought it was a possession game and we wanted them to just follow us and go to the (free-throw) line.”

Remarkably, the Cougars had lost eight overtime games in a row, dating back to 2000, before defeating the Wildcats (12-2, 3-1) on Saturday night before 7,181 fans. The win puts WSU in an early four-way tie at the top of the Pac-10, with the Cougars having already played all three of the other 3-1 teams.

WSU wouldn’t have been able to take the late lead in regulation and make it to overtime had it not been for a barrage of 3-pointers earlier in the game. Arizona played a series of zones through the middle portion of regulation, forcing the Cougars to shoot one 3-pointer after another. In all, WSU took 30, and it trailed 27-24 at halftime largely because it was 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.

The second half was an entirely different story, though, when Daven Harmeling and Chris Matthews, who has rarely seen the court this season, got hot. Harmeling had the night of his life, scoring 28 points and making 7 of 11 3-pointers, including at least one from NBA range. Matthews scored a quick eight points including a pair of 3s to help soften the Wildcat zone as well.

“To be honest, I didn’t really know where I was or where the line was,” Harmeling said. “I just tried to find the soft spots in the zone.”

And now, after yet another big win and a second storming of the court this season, those Cougars might just have done enough to put themselves back on the national radar.

“Everybody contributed,” Bennett said. “When they tied it up, I know everybody thought, ‘Oh my lord, that’s going to be tough. Do they have enough left in the tank?’ … They just battled, they sure did.”

Notes

Clark and freshman swingman Nikola Koprivica both needed stitches above the right eye after a collision with each other in the first half. … WSU hadn’t swept a home week in Pac-10 play since defeating the Oregon schools in February 2001. … Arizona had won 20 consecutive games against the Cougars in Pullman or Spokane. … This is the first time WSU has won three Pac-10 games played consecutively since 1994. … Mustafa Shakur led the Wildcats with 19 points, Williams had 18 and Radenovic added 17. For the Cougars, Kyle Weaver had 15 and Robbie Cowgill 13.

WSU 77, Arizona 73 (OT)

Percentages: FG .394, FT .938. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Radenovic 3-5, Shakur 2-6, Budinger 1-4, Williams 0-3, McClellan 0-3). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Williams 2, Radenovic, Hill). Turnovers: 13 (Williams 3, Radenovic 3, McClellan 3, Budinger 2, Shakur 2). Steals: 1 (Radenovic). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .431, FT .632. 3-Point Goals: 9-30, .300 (Harmeling 7-11, Matthews 2-6, Clark 0-1, Rochestie 0-1, Koprivica 0-1, Weaver 0-2, Low 0-8). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 7 (Clark 3, Cowgill 2, Weaver 2). Turnovers: 9 (Weaver 4, Clark 3, Low, Rochestie). Steals: 7 (Low 3, Weaver 3, Clark). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Arizona 27, Washington State 24. Regulation—Arizona 67, Washington State 67. A–7,181.