Washington State-ASU: Cougars Earn Arizona Split

From beginning to end, the game Saturday between No. 6 Washington State and No. 24 Arizona State was a real thriller for fans. It was back and forth, forth and back.

But when the final buzzer buzzed, the scoreboard ruled in favor of the Cougs, 56-55.

Both teams mounted some nice offensive runs over the course of 40 minutes. Much of the first half had ASU looking good. Reverse that for the second half. Both halves ended with offensive flurries by the team that was on the short end of the score.

The Sun Devils were up 29-20 with about a minute and half to go. It was WSU who made the last seven points to close the gap to 29-27. In the second half, the Cougs were up 56-48 with about three minutes to go. The seven point run by ASU left them just a little short of sending home 10,000+ fans with huge smiles.

 The Cougar backcourt played hard for just about every second of the game. Both Derrick Low and Taylor Rochestie logged 39 minutes. Kyle Weaver was on the floor for 38. It was the kind of game that took a monster level of effort to come away with a victory on the road.

Low went out of his mind in the second half knocking down a barrage of three-pointers to quiet the Sun Devil fans and discourage the ASU players.

There’s little doubt that the most impressive player on the floor for either team was the ASU freshman James Harden. What an awesome basketball player!

Exhibiting maturity beyond his years and a calm demeanor, Harden scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished off four assists and out-quicked WSU players for three steals. He played under control while making some spectacular moves destined for the ESPN highlights reel.

Harden hasn’t had the media adulation of OJ Mayo of USC, but Saturday he showed himself to be all that and more.

In the end, ASU hasn’t quite climbed the hill the Cougars have. Three senior starters for Washington State (Low, Weaver and Cowgill), have learned what it takes to win close games on the road. That’s why Coach Tony Bennett had them on the floor for just about the entire game.

So Washington State will get to enjoy some home cooking and Zzu Crew fans supporting them for the next couple of weeks. No doubt they will enjoy all of what home court advantage has to offer. They return from the trip through Arizona splitting the two games, a game behind UCLA for first place in the Pac-10.

If 20 wins is the benchmark to gain an invitation to the NCAA Tournament, the Cougs are just three wins away with 11 on the schedule and the Pac-10 Tournament down in Los Angeles at the Staples Center in March.

Great win!

GO COUGS!!!