Cougars-Cardinal: Stanford Runs Over WSU

Washington State players left the floor of Maples Pavilion Saturday afternoon with stunned expressions. After playing another excellent first half of basketball, following up their terrific complete game effort against Cal Thursday night, the Cougs saw their 33-22 halftime lead vanish. Stanford came back to win this contest 60-53.

It was a tough loss for the Cougars.

If you are a Stanford fan, this game was everything you could hope for. Well, maybe not everything, but WSU had control of this game for the first 36 minutes of play. The final four minutes were all Cardinal. They held the Cougs to just two points over that time period. Game over.

What happened?

Brook Lopez happened, that's what. At some point near the end of the first half, Coach Trent Johnson gave up on the play of his guards. They were completely shut down by the WSU backcourt. The reason it may have taken the entire first half for Coach Johnson to arrive at that conclusion was the unusual combination of guards used by Coach Tony Bennett. Coach Bennett had to adapt to a big-time problem early on. Just six minutes into the game, All-Pac-10 guard Kyle Weaver picked up his second foul. He spent the rest of the first half watching the game from a front row seat on the team bench.

Kyle Weaver out of the game should mean Stanford could bomb away from outside with their sharp-shooting guards, right? Makes sense, but that didn't happen. Stanford as a team was a miserable 35 percent shooting from the field in the first half.

Then it happened.

The second half began for Stanford by feeding the ball inside to Brook Lopez. He missed a layup! No problem. Lopez grabbed his own rebound, made a soft mid-range jumper which he followed with a lame impression of Tarzan.

Over the next ten to twelve minutes of play, Lopez got plenty of opportunities to show his enthusiasm by imitating the King of the Jungle.

How good was Lopez' impression? Judging by the officiating in the second half, it was more than convincing. When Washington State tried to set up their defense in the second half, they found themselves in the middle of jungle warfare. Stanford University might be known for their liberal view of how to save our planet, but Saturday in the second half of their battle with WSU they were all about mowing down everything in sight.

Pick your preposition. Lopez ran around, over, through, between...you get the drill. Lopez ran wild and there wasn't an official on the floor that was going to stop him. You have to give the young man credit. Once he discovered the crew of referees was only interested in watching him pound his chest, Brook was a one man scoring weapon aimed at anyone Coach Bennett wanted to put on the floor.

Result? On the back of jungle warrior Lopez, who was an awesome 11-16 from the floor, the Cardinal claimed their 24th victory of the season and improved their lock on second place in the Pac-10 with a record of 13-3.

Washington State was slightly undermanned going into this game to begin with. Sixth man Daven Harmeling tried to give it a go, but a bum ankle kept his jump shot on the bench for the second game in a row. Couple that with the eight man defense employed by Stanford in the second half and it was just too much offensive power for the Cougs to overcome.

Eight man defense? Yes, the Foot Locker salesmen, aka Pac-10 officials, were all about seeing Stanford improve their home record to 16-1 on the season. Well done men. Well done. Be sure to wash your uniform before your next shift.

There's something about this Washington State team though. In a conference stacked with some of the classiest and best head coaches in the nation, Coach Johnson was tagged with a technical foul late in the first half. That marks the third time in conference play that a head coach was hit with a "T" against WSU. Interesting? Certainly unexpected.

The Cougs were moving toward their second victory on this road trip. With the game on the line, they failed to run their offense to get open shots. Could be a fatigue factor. Could be great defense by Stanford. Could be frustration with the officials. Likely it was a combination of all three.

If nothing else, Coach Bennett now has some terrific game tape to review with his troops when preparing for the NCAA Tournament. They should expect much of the same in every game they can earn entry into. Weaver is going to have to drive more and dish off when double teamed near the basket. Aron Baynes is going to have to catch passes whipped to him in the paint. When Derrick Low is the focus of their opponents defense, Taylor Rochestie will need to take over the game like a battle commander, as though the Cougs are "his" team. And of course, if the Cougar offense is looking sick with a fever, they can always use more Cowgill. Senior Robbie Cowgill has offensive skills to match his excellent defense. More Cowgill!

Washington State leaves the Palo Alto battlefield battered, but much wiser. They can return home and prepare to face Washington next Saturday on the venue that has been very, very tough to earn a victory, Friel Court.

Between now and the NCAA Tournament there's time for a few more wins.

This has been one heckuva terrific Cougar basketball season. Look for more excitement in the coming weeks.

GO COUGS!!!