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Cougs romp in opener

John Blanchette  •  Staff writer
Published November 16, 2008

PULLMAN – There came a time during Washington State's basketball opener Saturday night when coach Tony Bennett challenged his team to "play against the game."

Good advice, considering the Cougars had long since beaten the opponent.

In fact, for a good long spell it seemed as if the Cougs had a decent chance of shutting out the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State – not surrendering a point until they'd scored 28 themselves and turning that head start into a 76-25 romp in front of 8,346 fans at Friel Court.

It was an eerie flashback to these teams' meeting in Spokane 51 weeks ago – right down to the score. The Cougars won that one 71-26, their fewest points allowed in 60 years – a distinction eclipsed by this blowout.

The Devils were presumably bushed from an all-day trip from Phoenix after losing to Arizona State 80-64 in their season opener Friday night – but it wasn't as if the Cougars took that for granted. That MVSU missed its first 15 shots was mostly a function of the Devils not getting any good ones.

"I challenged the guys before the game to really come out and establish what we're about," Bennett said, "to kind of fly around in our system and they certainly did that."

While the Cougars' defense was its usual gnarly self, the offense could hardly have been more efficient. WSU had a 16-0 lead before it missed a shot – and 25-0 before it missed another. It was a telling mix of silky 3-pointers – four of them, two by freshman Klay Thompson – and inside power from 6-foot-10 Aron Baynes who had six of his game-high 14 points in the first 6 minutes. He later added a dunk to cap that 28-0 start.

Only then did the Delta Devils finally connect. Dwayne Harmason launched a fading 14-footer from the left side that bounced high off the rim and then dropped in as the crowd groaned its disappointment.

It wasn't a dam break. By the half, the Cougars led 41-11 – and then put together a 20-4 run to open the second period.

"The low scoring they had, hopefully some of it was due to us," guard Taylor Rochestie said. "But then again, there's still some breakdowns we can get better at and learn from. … It was exciting to just get out there and play defense and go in front of our crowd, which was with us until the end of the game."

Percentages: FG .16.7, FT .55.6. 3-Point Goals: 2-16, .12.5 (Newsome 1-5, Burwell 1-3, Behling 0-4, Clark 0-3, Harmason 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 1 (Newsome). Turnovers: 13 (Petty 3, Newsome 3, Burwell 3, Harmason 2, Studivant, Clark). Steals: 7 (Newsome 2, Preston, Jones, Burwell, Studivant, Petty). Technical Fouls: Team.

Percentages: FG .55.3, FT .75. 3-Point Goals: 6-13, .46.2 (Thompson 2-4, Koprivica 2-3, Rochestie 1-2, Harmeling 1-1, Lodwick 0-2, Witherill 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots: 8 (Casto 4, Enquist 3, Forrest). Turnovers: 17 (Capers 4, Casto 3, Baynes 2, Forrest 2, Lodwick 2, Bailey 2, Witherill, Koprivica). Steals: 4 (Baynes, Koprivica, Bailey, Witherill). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Washington State 41, Mississippi Valley State 11. A–8,346.