Pac 10 Fans Home
Pac 10 Football
Pac 10 Basketball
Pac 10 Baseball
College Fansites
Pac 10 Apparel
Pac 10 Tickets

Washington State Cougars vs California Golden Bears Basketball Recap

Times are very desperate for a team that’s on the bad side of the NCAA Tournament bubble… if it exists on the bubble at all. A stretch run that involves no margin for error has begun in earnest for the hoopsters of the Palouse.

The Washington State Cougars defeated the California Bears in Pac-10 competition from Friel Court in Pullman, Washington on Saturday evening. The Cougars moved to 7-6 in conference play, three games behind league-leading Arizona. The loss dropped head coach Mike Montgomery’s Bears to 6-7 in the Pac-10.

Washington State harbored legitimate hopes of an at-large NCAA bid a month ago, when the Pac-10 season was still gathering momentum. Wazzu crushed Gonzaga at home and whipped Baylor at a pre-Christmas tournament in Hawaii. The Cougs’ resume looked a lot better then, and if the team could have taken care of business in all its home games plus its winnable road games, a tourney ticket stood as a very realistic and attainable goal.

Then, however, the season went south for Washington State. A home loss to Arizona represented a crippling blow, and subsequent losses to Oregon on Feb. 3 and Stanford this past Thursday have almost certainly reduced the Cougars to an NIT team. It’s fair to say that Washington State has virtually no leeway over the next four weeks. This 7-6 Pac-10 record needs to be at least 11-7 when the regular season ends. Then WSU must win at least two games in the Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles to feel it has a half-chance of being called on Selection Sunday. This win over Cal was a start, but it’s only a small bread crumb compared to what the Cougs must accomplish in the next month.

> Browse the selection of Pac 10 apparel & merchandise online as well as Pac 10 tickets through Pac 10 Fans and partner sites.

Both teams struggled from the field, each shooting under 43 percent on the night. It was a back-and-forth contest in the first stanza, with both squads holding the lead. The Cougars took a two-point lead into the halftime locker and led until California took a one-point lead with 5:20 left in the contest. Washington State took the lead for good just one minute later and never looked back. California’s Jorge Gutierrez, who posted a team high 19 points, missed a game-tying 3-pointer with just three seconds left and his team trailing 74-71. Harvin Kamp tallied 17 points and 9 rebounds while Jeff Powers added 14 in a losing effort.

Although leading scorer Klay Thompson was held to 14 points on the night, head coach Ken Bone’s Cougars were aided by five players who scored in double figures. Brock Motum’s 19 points and Failsal Aden’s 18 points led the Cougar bench, which needs to be just as potent and formidable if this team is to make one last charge at the NCAA Tournament.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer