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Cougars upset 18th-ranked Gonzaga

The Spokesman-Review
December 5, 2006

Washington State's Daven Harmeling rides the shoulders of students after the Cougars upset Gonzaga 77-67, December 5, 2006 in Pullman, Washington. (Dan Pelle)

Derrick Low scored 22 points and Washington State ran away down the stretch to upset Gonzaga, 77-67, before a sellout crowd at Friel Court on Tuesday night. The win snapped WSU's seven-game losing streak to GU.

The Cougars, who came in shooting 40 percent from outside the 3-point line, hit a season-high 11 long-range shots, including two from Kyle Weaver and Davan Harmeling, who finished with 20 points and hit the clinching 3-pointer that gave WSU the lead for good with 2:33 left.

Washington State trailed 66-63, then outscored GU 14-1 down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Cougars (8-1) won despite missing more than a dozen free throws.

Josh Heytvelt led the 18th-ranked Bulldogs (8-2) with 22 points and Derek Raivio added 21 points, though Weaver's defense shut him out down the stretch after Raivio had scored 15 in the first half.

The Bulldogs led most of the game, building a 10-point lead in the first half, before WSU cut it to six at halftime. That lead was built on hot shooting (GU shot 50 percent in the opening half, including 5 of 12 beyond the arc), but WSU's defense tightened after intermission.

And the Cougars' offense loosened, with WSU hitting eight of its 3-point shots after halftime.

The Cougars also rebounded better in the second half, after GU had a 19-13 advantage in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cougars were coming off their first loss of the season, 69-55 in Salt Lake City against the University of Utah, a game in which they shot 41 percent from the floor and took only eight 3-pointers.

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