Cougars to play in Semifinal of NIT

With an exciting overtime finish against Northwestern last week, the Washington State University Cougars now prepare for the final four of the NIT, with the Coug’s first game against Wichita State University tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The Shockers, part of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished the regular season 14-4 in conference and 27-8 overall. Wichita State’s leading scorer J.T. Durley averages over 11 points game, with junior David Kyles short behind averaging over 9 points per game. However, both seem meager when compared to the 22 points per game Washington State’s Klay Thompson averages on a given night.

“It will be interesting to see how the two match up,” senior Katie Tucci said, an avid fan of Cougar basketball. “When Klay is in the zone, he can’t miss. If he plays the way he has been earlier in the tournament I think Wichita will have some problems.”

Wichita State appeared in the NIT last year as well, but was ousted by Nevada in the first round. Similarly the Cougars played in the NIT in 2009, but also fell in the first round to Saint Mary’s.

“We are a much stronger team than we were two years ago,” Tucci said. “They have better team chemistry and I think they have learned what it takes to win under a high pressure environment. I know they can win this game.”

The battle between WSU and WSU will take place at 4pm tomorrow on ESPN2.

Pro Day at WSU

Twelve seniors ran, lifted and jumped in the Washington State University Pro Day held at the Indoor Practice facility to keep their hopes of NFL dreams alive.  The event started with arm length, hand, height and weight measurements at noon, then a series of drills that test the athletes speed, strength and agility.  The seniors include Micah Hannam, Reid Forrest, Daniel Blackledge, Chantz Staden, Marcus Richmond, Zack Williams, Myron Beck, Zach Enyeart, Zack Williams, Aaron Gehring, James Montgomery and Bernard Wolfgramm.

Pro day is a chance for seniors and eligible players entering the draft to showcase their talent through a series of tests/drills in front of NFL scouts.  The drills include the vertical, broad jump, 3-cone drill, 20 yard shuttle, 60 yard shuttle, 40 yard dash and individual drills by position. 

Many seniors improved their draft status and had an overall successful day but there were definitely some highlights of the day.  Blackledge posted the best jumps, with a 40-inch leap in the vertical which got the crowd excited and a 10’11 broad jump, both the best marks of the day.  He also performed well in the agility drills and route-running toward the end of the event.  All eyes were on standout Zack Williams during the bench press when he posted 35 reps.  Williams participated in the national combine in Indianapolis and was only doing the bench at pro day because some of his reps were taken away because of his form at the combine.  Perhaps the best highlight of the day was Marcus Richmond as he ran a blistering 4.4 in the 40 yard dash after he was given another chance to run because the scouts missed his second run.  The crowd of WSU football players and others burst into cheer and celebrated his run.

The scouts in attendance were from the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants.  The event was filmed for all of the NFL teams to review.

What comes next for the seniors? Well tons of uncertainty until the draft in April.  Until then some seniors may receive an invite for an individual workout for a certain team that has interest in the individual.  Also it will be interesting to see how the CBA agreements play out because it could affect the NFL in its entirety.  After the draft in April, mini-camps start in May.

Arizona, UCONN battle in the Elite Eight

For all the talk this season about the depth and talent in the Big East and the relative lack thereof in the Pac-10, both teams have just one team remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Those two teams- UCONN and Arizona- square off in the Elite Eight Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.

For sending a record 11 teams to the tournament, the Big East has been a disappointment thus far. Connecticut, which earned a three seed in the tournament after winning the Big East tournament, is the last team standing for the expert-proclaimed “best conference in America.”

However, the league’s failures are not indicative of the talent and potential UCONN possesses. Led by potential John R. Wooden Award winner- given to the national player of the year- Kemba Walker, the Huskies have been impressive thus far in the tournament, knocking off Bucknell, Cincinnati and San Diego State. Averaging 24.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, Walker paces a Connecticut offense that scores 73 points per game against some of the best statistical defenses in the country. At 8.7 rebounds per game, Alex Oriakhi leads the nation’s 11^th best rebounding team- averaging 39.6 per game.

The Pac-10 regular-season champion Arizona Wildcats hit a speed bump in the conference tournament with an overtime loss to Washington. But since then, Arizona has proven that perhaps the Pac-10 was not as weak this year as its reputation would leave one to believe. After squeaking by Memphis in the opening round, the Wildcats beat Texas with the help of a controversial five-second violation at the end of the game. After barely getting by those games, however, Arizona dominated first-seeded and defending national champion Duke.

The Wildcats  are led by likely lottery pick Derrick Williams in the post. Yet, the 6-foot-8 sophomore forward out of La Mirada, Calif. is not limited offensively to the low post. Williams shoots an incredible 60.3 percent from the 3-point line, knocking down treys at vital times for the Wildcats. Against the speed and athleticism of UCONN, Arizona will also rely on guards Lamond “MoMo” Jones, Kyle Fogg and Kevin Parrom to help stretch the Huskies’ defense. At 76.5 points per game, UA ranks 25^th in the nation in scoring offense. That allows them to overcome often-sketchy at best low post defense by Williams, who frequently backs off of offensive players instead of drawing fouls. While the Wildcats would rather keep Williams out of foul trouble and in the game for his offensive prowess, teams that attack the post can find easy baskets available to them against Arizona.

The game tips off at 4:05pm pacific time from the Honda Center. 

Cal, WSU look to NIT

It may not have been the playoff tournament they hoped for, but for California and Washington State the season lives on for at least another day. Both teams host first round matchups Wednesday in the NIT.

California tips off at 6pm Pacific time against Mississippi in Haas Pavilion. The Golden Bears took a young and inexperienced team into the season and managed to finish tied for fourth in the Pac-10 with a record of 10-8. Led by impressive freshman Allen Crabbe and juniors Jorge Gutierrez and Harper Kamp, Cal has seen marked improvement since scoring just five points in the first half against Notre Dame earlier in the season. 

Mississippi is paced by senior guard Chris Warren, who is averaging 19 points and 3.8 assists per game. Senior guard Zach Graham chips in 14.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Rebels. 

The winner will take on the winner of the Colorado-Texas Southern matchup.

Washington State looks to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament to rival Washington. With hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Cougars faded just slightly at the end of the game, and fell two points short. But the Cougars take their two-seed up against Long Beach State University Wednesday night at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash. Coming off of a 43-point effort, junior wing Klay Thompson will look to continue his hot shooting at the expense of the 49ers. The Cougars also hope to get continued production from junior forward DeAngelo Casto, who has become a dominant force down low as the season has progressed. 

Juniors Casper Ware and Larry Anderson lead the 49ers with 17 and 14.5 points per game, respectively. But Long Beach State is a balanced team with five players averaging double figure points per game. 

Whoever gets past this game will face Oklahoma State this weekend, with the location still to be determined. 

Pac-10 teams head to the NCAA Tournament

Despite what has been called a down year for the conference, the Pac-10 sends four teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Arizona (5 seed), Washington (7), UCLA (7) and USC (12) are all representing the “Conference of Champions” in March Madness.

Regular season Pac-10 champion Arizona earned the highest seed and will take on 12^th seeded Memphis out of Conference USA. A perennial powerhouse, Memphis has fallen on slightly lower times the past few seasons. However, the young and talented team will look to be this year’s annual 12^th seeded Cinderella of the first round. Arizona counters with likely lottery pick Derrick Williams, the 2011 Pac-10 Player of the Year. Should the Wildcats hold serve and get past Memphis, they will play the winner of the Texas-Oakland game.

In the East bracket, Washington takes on Georgia out of the Southeastern Conference. A bit of a surprise to even make the tournament, Georgia comes into March Madness fresh off a loss to tournament snub Alabama. On the other hand, Washington is playing arguably its best basketball of the season after winning the Pac-10 Tournament. UW took out rival Washington State in a close game in the first round before thrashing Oregon in round two. In the championship game, freshmen C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross stepped up from downtown and Isaiah Thomas hit a buzzer beater to key an overtime victory. The winner of the UW-Georgia game earns the right to take on the winner of North Carolina-Long Island in North Carolina.

UCLA heads into the tournament after a disastrous showing in the Pac-10 Tournament. The regular season conference runner-ups never got out of the starting blocks against Oregon. But the Bruins received an at-large bid nonetheless and now hope to rediscover their groove against first round opponent Michigan State. The Tom Izzo-led Spartans are always a dangerous team in March, but this season has not gone as expected for the men from East Lansing, Mich. Regardless, the fact that two of college basketball’s most storied programs meet in a first-round 7-10 matchup is a scintillating story in and of itself.

Finally, USC just snuck into the Tournament in the first year of the “first four.” The play-in game gives the Trojans the opportunity to prove they belong in the madness. USC takes on Virginia Commonwealth University for the right to take on Georgetown in the field of 64. Trojans coach Kevin O’Neill is coming off a bit of a personal drama after being suspended for their final game of the Pac-10 Tournament after O’Neill got into a verbal altercation with a University of Arizona booster in the hotel lobby of the J.W. Marriott in Los Angeles. O’Neill has been reinstated for the NCAA Tournament, however, and will look to make a surprise run for a program that continued to get better as the season went on. 

Game of the Week- Saturday

The Pac-10 regular season comes to a close Saturday with all sorts of post season implications still at stake. The biggest conference game of the day comes out of Pullman, Wash. where Washington State hosts UCLA. A Bruins win coupled with an Arizona loss clinches a share of the Pac-10 title for UCLA. On the other hand, Washington State can bolster its NCAA Tournament résumé with an upset.

The Cougars will have to shock the world to win this game, however. Starters Reggie Moore (ankle) and Klay Thompson (suspension) are both unavailable for Wazzu for the Cougars’ Senior Night- walk-on guard Ben Loewen is the only senior on the Cougars’ roster. The absence of the two starters means Washington State will have to rely on the recently-dominant game of DeAngelo Casto and an offensive resurgence from Faisal Aden to put points on the board. They also need a boost from freshmen Patrick Simon, Dre’ Winston, Jr. and Will DiIorio (walk-on).

UCLA looks to rebound from a disappointing second-half showing at Washington. The Bruins are paced by a balanced all-around attack. Down low the Bruins feature two of the Pac-10’s best posts in Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith. From the perimeter, UCLA showcases two potential NBA-type talents in Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee.

The Cougars will undoubtedly be fired up heading into this game, trying to prove they can get it done even without two of their best players. But with a possible league co-championship at stake, the Bruins should have plenty of energy themselves. Either way, the showdown in Pullman promises to be filled with passion and energy from both sides as the Cougars and Bruins look to head into the Pac-10 Tournament riding high. 

Game of the Week- Thursday

The Pac-10 basketball season heads into its final week of the regular season tonight with several spots in the league standings still up for grabs. But one game above all captures the nation’s interest tonight: UCLA at Washington. The game between the co-Pac-10 leading Bruins and third place Huskies at 6pm and will be aired on ESPN2.

The Bruins head into the weekend hoping to lock up sole possession of first place in the league. Of course that will take some help from the Oregon schools who face Arizona this weekend. However, the Bruins know they can lock up at least a share of the league title with a sweep in Washington. To do so, the Bruins will rely on their dominant-as-of-late inside presence of Joshua Smith and Reeves Nelson. Smith, who returns home to the school he spurned for UCLA, has become the player the Bruins expected him to be when he was a highly recruited star out of Kent, Wash. His low post presence alongside Nelson’s passion and energy will prove to be a difficult challenge for the Huskies’ interior that allowed Washington State’s DeAngelo Casto to torch them on Sunday.

The Huskies hope they can get back on track following a beat down by in-state rival Wazzu. The Cougars exposed the Huskies’ inconsistent outside shooting en route to an 11 point victory, UW’s first home defeat of the season. Washington should receive a boost with the return of wing Scott Suggs, who missed the past few games with an MCL sprain. UW will also try to get guards C. J. Wilcox, Justin Holliday and Terrence Ross on track from the three-point line. When those three are a threat from outside, it opens up the inside game for Matthew Bryan-Amaning and makes it easier for Aziz N’Diaye to grab offensive boards and lay it in. In a sense, Washington’s outside game goes a long way in determining their offensive success, which coach Lorenzo Romar says leads to better defense as well.

The game Thursday should be very influential on the final regular season standings in the Pac-10. As such, the passion and energy will be flowing amongst both teams, and certainly amongst UW’s student section, the Dawg Pack, as well.