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Cougars pull away from Oral Roberts

Vince Grippi
The Spokesman-Review
March 15, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It's not often the last four seconds of the first half decides a college basketball game.

But that might just be what happened Thursday as the Washington State Cougars won their first-round NCAA tournament game over Oral Roberts 70-54 in the Arco Arena thanks to those four seconds.

Trailing 28-22 and seemingly dispirited by a physical Oral Roberts team, the Cougs worked for the final shot of the half.

It looked like Taylor Rochestie's drive would be it, as the left-handed guard drove right and scored over Ken Tutt with four seconds left.

But Kyle Weaver, who played sparingly in the opening half due to two quick fouls, darted in front of Tutt, stole the ensuing inbounds pass and dunked as time expired.

"We go an easy one right at the end of the half, with four seconds left," Weaver said of Rochestie's score. "I figured they wanted to hurry up and get it in fast and try to get another bucket before the half. I just kind of hung around a little bit and read his eyes. I got the steal and went up for it and kind of gave us a little boost.

"We came into this locker room excited," Weaver continued. "Coach even came in hyped and got us going with a little speech. I swear, if coach had a jersey on he would have went out there and played."

"That little flurry at the end of the half helped," Cougar coach Tony Bennett said. "Instead of being down three or four possessions at the half, it was only a one possession game with our ball coming out."

The arena erupted, at least the section holding Washington State fans. Weaver and the rest of the Cougars left the court with a determined look. And, though there were still 20 minutes to play, a berth in the second round against the winner of the George Washington vs. Vanderbilt game.

It wasn't a mask. They came out of halftime with nine points in the first 2 minutes, 33 seconds, and the 13-0 run gave WSU a 35-28 lead. And took the air out of Oral Roberts' upset bid.

The 14th-seeded Golden Eagles (23-11), champions of the Mid-Continent Conference, would pull within five, another 7-0 Cougar run ensured the win, the school's first in the NCAA since 1983.

But if those final seconds of the half were important, it was the first 20 minutes of defense that kept WSU in it. And no one exemplified that more than Ivory Clark.

"Ivory Clark was one of those players today who really answered the call," Rochestie said.

The senior rose above the Golden Eagles' big men Caleb Green and Shawn King to block three shots, including a mammoth swat late in the first half that upset the ORU faithful – they thought it was goal tending – and excited the Cougar fans – they didn't.

It also was part of a renewed effort on that end that carried into the second half. And it was just the beginning for Clark.

He came from the weak side to block three more Caleb Green shots in the second half, part of eight the Cougars had. The blocks keyed a defense that held the Golden Eagles to 36 percent shooting overall, 30 percent from beyond the arc. And the Cougs limited ORU's leading scorer Caleb Green, who came in averaging more than 20 points a game.

"He's a great player, you saw that today, he just went to work down there," Rochestie said of the 6-foot-8 Green. "In the first half we tried to throw some stuff at him, we regrouped in the second half. And it was Ivory again, you can't say enough about his play.

"You can't totally shut down a guy like Caleb Green, but Ivory did the best he could and got some big blocks and some big rebounds and really neutralized him."

They were led in scoring by Tutt, who hit three 3-pointers (in 10 tries) and finished with 19, and Green, who had 13, eight blow his average. The Golden Eagles were 10 of 16 from the foul ine (WSU was 11 of 12), as the Cougs battled foul trouble most of the game.

WSU's offense was guard-driven for most of the game, with Rochestie, Derrick Low and Weaver combining for 37 points. But Clark supplied the inside punch and most of the points late, coming off the bench to finish with 19 points.

Weaver also led WSU (26-7, tying the most wins in school history, set in 1940-41) with eight rebounds and four assists.

The game started inauspiciously for the Cougars with a turnover on their first possession and Oral Roberts' Shawn King picking up his 79th blocked shot of the season on Rochestie's drive seconds later.

WSU's problems in the opening half revolved around rebounding – the Golden Eagles had five offensive rebounds in the first 15 minutes, resulting in six points – and shooting – WSU made just 11 of 30 first-half attempts from the field.

But ironically, it was offensive rebounding that jump-started the Cougar offense late in the half.

After taking a 16-15 lead with 8:45 left in the half on Low's 10-foot jumper, the Cougars went more than five minutes without scoring. The drought, which resulted in a 21-16 ORU lead, finally ended when Weaver scored with a putback after the Cougars had grabbed five offensive rebounds in one possession.

But the Golden Eagles rebuilt the lead to 28-22 with 41 seconds left on Green's follow, setting up the final four seconds.

Though the Cougars weren't shooting well – they made none of their three first-half 3-point attempts – they forced ORU to shoot even worse, as the Golden Eagles converted 11 of 31 shots, including 4 of 13 beyond the arc. But their 10 offensive rebounds – resulting in 11 second-chance points – kept them in it.

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