• WSU at UW, 2:30, FSN
This is still the Apple Cup of basketball, the Huskies and Cougars are still rivals, and purple and crimson still clash.
However, all of that takes the back seat today when Washington State visits No. 16 Washington at 2:30 p.m.
“We have a chance to win a championship,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “It’s not about we’re playing against our rival. It’s not about anything other than … playing to do something that no (UW team) has ever done: (win) a Pac-10 championship outright.”
Either a UCLA loss to Oregon today or a win by UW will give the Huskies their first outright conference championship since 1953 and their first outright regular-season title since the conference became the Pacific-10 Conference in 1978. The Huskies are already assured of their first shared title since 1985.
“We’re always telling our guys stories about, ‘Well, this is how (former Huskies Nate Robinson and Brandon Roy did things), this is how their team did it, this is how they were successful,’ ” Romar said, “I’m sure they probably get sick of hearing that sometimes. Now, they get to create their own legacy. They get to do something that even those guys didn’t get a chance to do. … All that trumps whoever we’re playing against.”
The Cougars also have plenty to play for besides making their cross-state rival miserable on Senior Day.
With a win today, WSU survives some very complicated tiebreakers and assures itself of avoiding the Wednesday play-in games in the conference tournament next week in Los Angeles.
A win also increases Washington State’s chances of an invitation to postseason play.
Those hopes have been revived by the Cougars’ current three-game winning streak. And coach Tony Bennett thinks his team’s best chance of stretching that to four is to simply to continue in the mind-set that has served the Cougars well so far.
“We’ve just committed five or six games ago to playing the best basketball we can regardless of where that puts us at the end of the year,” Bennett said. “And in doing that we have a chance to be successful and not getting so hung up on X-amount of wins. There’s certainly motivation to play in the postseason. That’s there. But it comes down to can you play at a high level, and you have to do it game in and game out.”
Washington played at the higher level on Jan. 3, when these rivals opened conference play in Pullman.
The Huskies blew it open late on 6-of-11 accuracy from 3-point range for a 68-48 victory. Isaiah Thomas, Justin Dentmon and Quincy Pondexter scored 19, 17 and 16 points respectively for UW. The Cougars were led by Taylor Rochestie, who had 12 points.
Both coaches agree that WSU is playing better now, thanks largely to the development of freshmen Klay Thompson, DeAngelo Casto and Marcus Capers.
“Hopefully, we’ve improved as the course of the season has gone on,” Bennett said. “Certainly (the Huskies) have, and they’re good. But hopefully with the number of freshmen that we have … (they) have a lot more Pac-10 minutes under their belt. I hope that proves to be valuable.”
Today, Washington will be more focused on its seniors, as Dentmon, Jon Brockman and Artem Wallace will play for the final time on their home court.
“It will be emotional,” Brockman said. “And I’ll realize that it will be my last game there. But it won’t fully sink in – I don’t think – until they won’t let me play any more, until we’re done completely. … It’s such a big game, and we have a lot of things we still want to accomplish.”
Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808
blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
Men’s basketball gameday
WASHINGTON STATE (16-13 OVERALL, 8-9 PACific-10 Conference) AT NO. 16 WASHINGTON (23-7, 13-4)
Tipoff: 2:30 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
TV: FSNRadio: 850-AM, 950-AM.
Series: UW leads 168-98 overall and 97-34 in Seattle. The Huskies won the earlier match this season, 68-48, on Jan. 3 in Pullman. However, the Cougars have won three straight at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Statistical leaders: For WSU – G Taylor Rochestie and G Klay Thompson, 13.1 ppg; Rochestie 4.7 apg; C Aron Baynes, 7.3 rpg. For UW – G Isaiah Thomas, 15.7 ppg and 2.7 apg; F Jon Brockman, 11.3 rpg.
Scouting report: This is the final regular-season game for both teams. A UW win or a UCLA loss to Oregon gives the Huskies the outright Pac-10 championship. However, a UCLA win and a UW loss makes the Huskies co-champs with the Bruins and tiebreakers drop UW to the No. 2 seed in the Pac-10 tournament next week. … WSU, which is tied with Arizona and USC for fifth place, needs to win to guarantee a first-day bye in the Pac-10 tournament. A WSU loss means a seventh- or eighth-place finish and a tournament-opening game Wednesday. … UW leads the Pac-10 in scoring (79.6 ppg), while WSU leads in scoring defense (54.8 ppg). The Huskies lead the league in rebounding margin, while the Cougars lead in field goal defense percentage. … Expect Brockman, Justin Dentmon and Artem Wallace to start on Senior Day in their final home appearance.
Next: Both teams go to the Pac-10 tournament, Wednesday through Saturday at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Today’s results will settle pairings and times.
Don Ruiz, The News Tribune
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.