Arizona Wildcats Gun Down Washington State

There’s nothing profound or original in pointing out the obvious: Winning a road game in the Pac 10 is a tall order. Even if you consider such mention as mundane or pedestrian, it clearly sums up the contest last night between Washington State and Arizona.

Thursday evening, the unranked Arizona Wildcats defended their house and handed the WSU Cougars their first double-digit loss in a few years, 76-64. When the final buzzer sounded, Arizona was all smiles after putting up 76 points on a team that averages giving up only 52. There’s a reason to smile.

The first half in front of the packed McKale Center arena was a seesaw battle between two excellent basketball teams doing what they do best.

This game was decided early in the second half. Arizona was knocking down uncontested three-point shots while the Cougs were throwing up air balls and missing layups in the paint. While both teams played with a high level of energy, it was Arizona that was playing under control and maximizing their talents.

What turned the game in favor of the Wildcats was their confidence shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. They did what any good team does—once they discovered something that worked, they stuck with it until their opponent found a way to shut it down.

Arizona found that they could weave until there was good spacing on the floor, drive from the top of the key, then as the WSU defense collapsed on the ball, kick out to a shooter for a three-point attempt. That worked. And that worked. And that worked again.

You should tip your hat to the Wildcats because they played with the poise associated with Top 25 teams. The tenacious Cougar defense didn’t shake their confidence or focus.

Make no mistake about the Wildcat victory Thursday night—it was a complete effort. Great shooting. Great defense. Great coaching. Great intensity and focus. Comparing the offense of the two teams in the second half, Arizona was outstanding, whereas WSU looked awful.

Though it didn’t effect the outcome of the game, there was one thing worse than the Cougar offense in the second half: The announcers FSN employed to call the game were amateurs.

For Cougar fans, it was painful to watch their team struggle through the final 20 minutes. However, that paled in comparison to what they had to endure if they were masochistic enough to leave the volume on the television sets. Shame on FSN for employing unprepared, cliche and superfluous announcers. It would be an insult to compare them with folks posting blogs or uploading videos on YouTube.

Thankfully, that trio of announcers for FSN is an aberration. For example, the team calling the Oregon/UCLA game that followed were quite good. Reviewing the two announcing teams would garner superlatives such as “superb” and “insightful” by comparison. FSN should do better for college basketball. They can and typically do.

Rant over.

For Cougar Nation, there’s no need to get down on your team. They are still terrific and have an outstanding coach. Sure, it would be awesome to win every game. Realistic? Come on.

If your team is going to play in the best conference in the nation, get used to coming up on the short end of the score occasionally. The second half effort by the Cougs was ineffective but not half hearted. Coach Tony Bennett’s team did not lack pride or energy last night. They just didn’t convert opportunities. Period.

We’ll see how things play out when Arizona travels to Pullman, home to the Zzu Crew.

GO COUGS!!!