USC-Washington State: Cougars Drop Trojans

The difference in the performance of Washington State last night versus their last three games is that Saturday they earned the “W”—big time.

By the time Friel Court was emptying out into the wintry late afternoon, the Cougs had completed a conference sweep of USC for the second consecutive year.

Final score: WSU 74, USC 50.

Once again, WSU was all about teamwork, pressure defense and picking apart the few weak spots of their PAC-10 opponent.

OJ Mayo and company were off to a nice enough start, leading 7-4 going into the first TV timeout. Coach Tim Floyd was feeling good and exhorting his players as they confidently strutted to the sidelines surrounded by emotionally charged Cougar fans. The Zzu Cru.

If you were to judge how the game was beginning from the crowd noise, you’d swear the Cougs were up by at least a dozen rather than trailing by a three-pointer. And if you were going to judge how things were going by scanning the game faces of the Washington State players, you wouldn’t have a clue. Typical Cougs. Play to the best of your ability and be satisfied with that.

 Coming out of the time out, the Trojans exhibited plenty of swagger strolling back to the court. Though mind reading isn’t a personal talent, USC players appeared to believe this game was going the same route as Thursday night in Seattle. Wrong.

The first clue should have been the three feet of snow on the ground. The second clue should have been the distant memory of the second conference game—a loss to this gangly group from Pullman. After all, there aren’t any five-star prospects on the Washington State roster. The Huskies had a few highly touted recruits and they fell like snow in the Palouse.

The Cougar defense frustrated and shut down USC the rest of the first half. Trailing 29-19 at the break, the Trojans shot just 36 percent from the field. From there, things went from bad to worse for USC.

About midway through the second half, it was crystal clear that the Cougs were not about to let the Trojans crawl back into the game. Then things got weird. Mayo tried to split a couple of Cougar defenders and drive the lane. In the process, he tangled feet and went sprawling at the foul line. On the way down, he lost control of the ball and WSU was an outlet pass away from the easy two.

Coach Floyd raced onto the court before the Trojans could inbound the ball. As he excitedly reached the official at that end of the floor, expletives were flying. Fortunately for young television viewers, the roar of the Zzu Cru drowned out whatever point Floyd was trying to make. The official compassionately tried to escort the outraged coach back to his bench.

The rant continued. Mayo attempted to get between his freaked out coach and the official. What? Isn’t that a bit backwards?

The rant continued. It would seem that Floyd might have questioned why former Foot Locker employees were given whistles and allowed to pretend they were Pac-10 officials. Oops. The offended referee slapped a second “T” on Floyd and pointed him toward the showers.

Perhaps the coach hoped his dramatic gesture would inspire his team to rebound from a 25-point deficit with less than five minutes to play. Sorry coach. Just like the game for USC, it was a futile effort.

This game was all about teamwork for Washington State. It was all about being well prepared and then executing the game plan set forth by 2007 Coach of the Year, Tony Bennett. The Cougs worked the floor on offense to perfection, shooting an astounding 60% for the game.

Kyle Weaver led the way with one spectacular play after another, finishing the game with a perfect 8-8 from the field 1-1 from the free throw stripe, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Almost forgot. Weaver blocked a shot, too. He is well on his way to another All-Pac-10 season.

Taylor Rochestie was rock solid on offense and defense, chipping in 13 points. Daven Harmeling showed signs of getting his shooting stroke back, going three for five beyond the arc.

It’s possible that the biggest shock about this game for Cougar Nation was that with about eight minutes left in the game, ABC/ESPN color commentator Steve Lavin gave the victory to Washington State. Are you kidding? We’re talking about major props being given to WSU by a former UCLA head coach when they were only up by 14 points with 8 minutes to play. Granted, he was right, but that was a stunning observation.

Too bad that one comment couldn’t overshadow the pathetic commentary by Lavin’s partner, Brent Musberger. Lavin knows basketball and actually added interesting insights as the game unfolded. Musberger rambled on about how desperately the Cougs needed a win. He insisted that WSU had been playing poorly in recent weeks because they were on a three game losing streak.

Brent! Wake up! Two of those three losses were to teams destined for the Sweet 16 come tournament time. Two of those three loses were well played by the Cougs. They narrowly came out on the short end of the score because their opponents were just a little better in both of those games. Seriously, has the announcing game passed Brent by?

After a rant like that, this blogger probably will be whistled for a double technical. Lot of that going around.

Great game. Great win.

GO COUGS!!!