WSU senior day forgettable for Rochestie - until the last shot
HOWIE STALWICK; For The News Tribune
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WSU 51, Arizona 49, OT
PULLMAN – After missing nine consecutive shots, Taylor Rochestie had just one thing on his mind when he launched one final shot with the game and perhaps the postseason hopes of the Washington State Cougars on the line in overtime Saturday at Friel Court.
“It’s going to be hard to see my family if I miss this one,” Rochestie said to himself.
A few moments later – after Rochestie escaped from the hundreds of WSU students who flooded the floor to congratulate their hero – Rochestie was celebrating with his mom, dad and brother on the sideline after his 3-point dagger from about 26 feet hit nothing but net with 2.3 seconds remaining to give the Cougars a thrilling 51-49 win over 14th-ranked Arizona State.
“That,” summed up WSU freshman guard Klay Thompson, “was incredible.”
Thompson was referring to Rochestie’s game-winning shot, but he could have been describing the game as a whole. Two of the premier defensive teams in the country treated 10,712 fans on Senior Day to a defensive clinic that included five ties and eight lead changes.
“What an ending,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “I’m glad they left with that taste in their mouths, our seniors, because that would have been a hard one had we not come away with it.”
Tell the Sun Devils something they don’t know. Arizona State’s second overtime loss of the week in the state of Washington – ASU lost, 73-70, on Thursday at Washington – eliminated the Sun Devils from contention for the Pacific-10 Conference regular-season title.
Earlier in the day, Washington clinched no worse than a tie for the championship. The Huskies and Cougars finish the regular season Saturday in Seattle (2:30 p.m., FSN).
The victory was WSU’s third in a row overall and third in its past three games against Top 25 foes. The Cougars (16-13 overall, 8-9 Pac-10) remain alive for fifth or sixth place.
The top six teams earn first-round byes at the Pac-10 tournament March 11-14 in Los Angeles. If the Cougars fail to earn an NCAA tournament invitation, there is a chance they could be invited to either the NIT or the second-year CBI, both of with stage early-round games on campus.
Prior to the shot that Rochestie described as the biggest of his career, the senior point guard had been suffering through a miserable Senior Day. He nailed a 3-pointer on his first shot early in the game, then missed his next nine shots (including four 3-pointers) before he jab-stepped to freeze defender Derek Glasser at the top of the arc and then delivered the fatal blow to Arizona State’s title dreams.
When Ty Abbott’s desperation heave from about 40 feet bounced harmlessly off the basket at the final horn, Rochestie’s place in Cougars basketball lore was assured.
“He’s clutch,” ASU star Jeff Pendergraph said in an otherwise silent Sun Devils dressing room. “The dude, he wasn’t going to lose.”
Rochestie, one of the nation’s leading free-throw shooters, jeopardized his chance to play hero when he missed a free throw with 15.5 seconds remaining in regulation, then missed another with 2:33 to go in overtime. He buried his last three free throws, but missed a runner in close with 49.9 seconds to go.
At the other end of the floor, WSU senior forward Caleb Forrest tipped away a lobbed pass from Rihards Kuksiks to Pendergraph near the basket with about 15 seconds remaining. Senior center Aron Baynes wound up with the ball for the Cougars, and Rochestie did the rest.
“He was sick how he missed a free throw and a couple things down the stretch,” Bennett said.
“It’s all strategic,” Forrest deadpanned.
The Sun Devils (21-7, 10-6) forced overtime when Pac-10 scoring leader James Harden calmly sank three free throws with 2.4 seconds to go in regulation. The opportunity was set up when Marcus Capers brushed Harden’s arm on a 3-point attempt from the left side.
Rochestie’s 40-footer clanked off the back of the basket as time expired.
Harden led ASU with 13 points and five assists, but the top NBA prospect suffered from 2-for-11 shooting from the field before fouling out with 3:26 to go in overtime. Harden was guarded most of the game by freshmen DeAngelo Casto, Capers and Thompson.
Thompson nailed seven of his season-high 18 shots and led the Cougars with 17 points and seven rebounds. Baynes added 11 points on 5-for-14 shooting, the only other Cougar to top Rochestie’s nine points.
“These younger guys won the game for us,” Rochestie said. “It wasn’t the last shot.”
More than 10,000 witnesses will beg to differ for the rest of their lives.
Fastbreaks
The Cougars’ sixth straight win over ASU gives Washington State a 33-32 lead in the all-time series. It’s the only Pac-10 series WSU leads.
