DENVER, Colo. - When Catholics are trying to sell a house, they'll sometimes bury a St. Christopher's medal upside down in the yard. When Notre Dame's trying to change their luck on the basketball floor, they try this...

It's not working so far. Harangody just got stripped from behind trying to dribble end to end. I guess he'll never be a point center.

Notre Dame still trails by 19, and we are now 0-5 trying to get a good game in Denver.

Meanwhile, I'm seeing a lot of this...

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - A few plays ago, Weaver missed a layup, ended up in the WSU cheerleader section and picks up a megaphone in disgust.. He was fouled on the play by McAlarney, and it was ruled intentional.

Weaver hit those free throws, then one more on the ensuing possession, then stole a pass that led to a Low three ball and the Cougars are back up 17 at 52-35.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - After Derrick Low scored four straight to stop the Notre Dame run, the Washington State fans got on their feet and cheered on the defense. It didn't work though. Rob Kurz got a layup and WSU's lead is down to 9 with 10:55 left.

The WSU dance team is on the floor again. It seems like every time I look up, there they are. None of them look like Derrick Low though, so I must just have their image burned into my eyes.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - The Irish offense has finally found some life. They are on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 38-31 with 13:49 left.

The ND fans behind me are getting louder now also. They've been sitting on their hands for a while.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - This are getting worse instead of better for ND with the lead now up to 16 and 16:06 left. Washington St is getting just about any shot they want, and Notre Dame is missing about every shot they take.

Notre Dame's points in this half came on a three-pointer by McAlarney, and he was fouled on the shot, but indicitive of how this day is going for the Irish, he clanked the freebie.

Still can't see Stanford-Marquette on our little TV, but we have four views of this brick-fest.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Here's some of the numbers that tell the tale of the first half.

ND shot 25% from the floor, and looked every bit like a team that didn't know how to get a shot off. Washington St shot 13-28 for 46%. Neither team did much from long range, with ND 1-8 and WSU 2-10.

Wazzu won the turnover battle 6-1, but the Irish have a four rebound lead.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments Mike Brey made at halftime. The second half will start here in a few minutes.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - This was expected to be a battle of styles, and the Cougars are imposing their will on the Irish. Notre Dame only has 19 points at the half, the last two of which came from Kurz as the clock wound down. That was right after Low drained a rainbow three with the shot clock expiring.

Washington St is frustrating ND in every way imaginable on the defensive end. Notre Dame leads the rebounding battle, but still isn't getting a lot of second chances. They also have turned it over half a dozen times.

At halftime, we're trying to figure out how to get Stanford and Marquette on our little TV at courtside while the Wash St dance team performs. We've had every CBS channel before so we could watch whatever we wanted, but once the Purdue game ended (and it seemed like it never would), we tried to find Stanford-Marquette, but instead we have the game we are watching on three channels.

We heard that Trent Johnson, the Stanford coach, was ejected.

More stats and stuff in a bit.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Kyle Weaver just made what I'm sure will be the steal of the day, even though we have a little more than 60 minutes of basketball left. Tory Jackson tried to throw a pass, and Weaver jumped and blocked it with his right hand, and ended up cupping the ball and coming down with it.

WSU maintains an 8-point lead with 3:44 left.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Washington State's defense has been smothering during a 10-0 run, which was just stopped by a Harangody layup. Wazzu is getting hands on just about every pass and shot attempt. They are making it very uncomfortable for ND to run their offense.

The Cougars lead 17-9 a the 12-minute timeout, which comes with 8:34 left, so we'll be due for another one real quick.

All five WSU starters are on the scoreboard, led by Low with 6.

Dick Bennett, Tony's dad, is in the house tonight seated about four rows behind the WSU bench.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Notre Dame scored the first five points on a Tory Jackson three and a layup by McAlarney, but WSU responded inside with Baynes and outside with Rochistie.

Derrick Low is on the board as well, as we're tied at 7 at the first timeout.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 06:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - The CBS guy in front of me just let the radio folks know that the tip of our first game has been pushed back 10 minutes, so we'll tip at 6:50 ET instead of 6:40.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - With the Purdue-Xavier at the half, I thought I'd take this opportunity to give you a little pregame info on our first game, which is still a half an hour away.

Once again, it looks like a late arriving crowd, although a section of WSU fans is mostly here already.

We already have the starting lineups, and they are the same for each team as they were on Thursday.

Notre Dame is going with
G Tory Jackson, Kyle McAlarney
C Luke Harangody
F Rob Kurz, Zach Hillesland

Washington St counters with
G Derrick Low, Taylor Rochestie
C Aron Baynes
F Kyle Weaver, Robbie Cowgill

Our refs are Mark Whitehead, John Hughes, and TV Teddy Valentine.

The bands and cheerleaders are already in place, and while the Irish and Wazzu band do a good job, we're going to miss this guy today.

I don't know if they do this, but I think the Wazzu band should have a song where they play Kazoos.

I got a chance to meet Xavier AD Mike Bobinksi, who is here as part of his orientation for going on the men's basketball committee next season. Naturally, a fight broke out over the Purdue-Xavier game. No, I'm kidding of course. UCLA AD Dan Guerrero is the official committee rep at this site. Tom O'Connor, I believe, has headed back to Indy, which is where the chair usually stays for the tournament.

Also, the Fonz is in the house. No, not Henry Winkler. LaPhonso Ellis, the former Notre Dame star, is part of the Irish radio team, and the tallest guy on press row, edging out CBS announcer Len Elmore.

ND has broken out some new warmups and unis for this game. The warmup has a clover on the chest, and the uniforms are black. You might be able to see that here.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Today has been a day of rest at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Well, not for the teams. They had closed practices and press conferences.

At other sites today, we've had riveting basketball. We had exactly the opposite of that here on Thursday, and we're hoping for better tomorrow.

Our first game, which starts at 4:40 Mountain time, features #4 seed Pittsburgh and #5 seed Michigan St. There are a lot of similarities between these teams. Both are pretty physical teams, rebound well, and get good play from their guards.

Pitt happens to be on fire at the moment. The Panthers won the Big East tournament, then stomped Oral Roberts on Thursday.

Michigan St has generally not played well away from home this year, but you wouldn't know that judging from the pounding they gave Temple.

Both teams play essentially three guards, although Michigan State's Raymar Morgan is a little big for a guard. That is the matchup that will likely be key for Michgan St. They need production from the guards, but Morgan in partcular.

Drew Neitzel did not have a particularly good game against Temple, but he wasn't needed. He will be be tomorrow.

Levance Fields of Pitt had a huge game against ORU with 23 points. It's probably not reasonable to expect that again, but if the team has the balance that they had the other night, with five players in double figures, that will be the omen of a good night.

The matchup that might be the toughest for MSU is Sam Young. Young had a quiet 14 against the Eagles, but his size and ability to play inside and out could cause problems for the Spartans.

Say what you want about MSU, they will be prepared. They toughened themselves up by, "beating ourselves up with game film," according to coach Tom Izzo. That has to hurt.

I like the hot Panthers in this game.

Game two will have another Big East team, Notre Dame taking on Washington St from the Pac 10.

WSU shut Winthrop down completely in the second half of their game on Thursday, which is befitting their top 5 ranking in scoring defense.

Notre Dame will provide some challenges. It will be up to Aron Baynes to try to contain Luke Harangody, while Derrick Low and company on the perimeter try to slow down Kyle McAlarney.

Notre Dame averages about 80 points a game, but WSU gives up less than 55 and only gave up 80 once all year.

On the other end, Low needs to find a way to get his offense going before the halftime break. He was 0-5 against Winthrop in the first half, but 4-5 in the second.

Good offense vs good defense. I'll take good defense and the Cougars.

Tonight, I am watching games from the Blake St Tavern, just north of Coors Field in Denver.

There have been a lot of competing interests here today. I've seen shirts from Purdue, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio St, Kansas, UCLA, Georgetown, Oklahoma and Oregon, Everybody has a dog in the fight. Except Ohio St.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - I'm not sure I ever witnessed a worse half of basketball in the NCAA tournament that what Winthrop just gave us. How bad were they? Let us count the ways.

The Eagles shot 4-24 from the floor, for 16.7%. They were 2-11 from long range, both in the last two minutes, which elicited cheers of sympathy from all in attendance. They were even 1-6 from the line.

Taj McCullough took 14 first half shots, but only got off three in the second. Chris Gaynor was 2-8. Michael Jenkins, the team's leading scorer on the season, was 1-9.

Washington St was led by Aron Baynes 19. Derrick Low hit 4-5 in the second half and finished with 11.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Winthrop finally hit a couple of shots to finish with an 11 point half in a 71-40 loss.

Meanwhile, the Brands, Andy Katz and I are crowded around a 12" TV with an hit-and-miss feed watching Belmont try to knock off Duke.

Back with stats in a minute.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - With 3:38 to go, Winthrop is still sitting on five points for the half. You can see the frustration and confusion on their faces. They have no idea what's happening to them.

They are 2-19 from the floor this half.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 09:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - The Eagles finally scored with 13:15 to go on a McCullough dunk in transition, but other than that, it's been hard for them to even draw iron. Wazzu leads 54-33 with 7:35 to go. That's four points for the entire half for Winthrop.

It's been so bad that after an intentional foul on Weaver (not sure why, never got replay) McCullough bricked the freebies so badly that the second one almost airballed.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Brand is monitoring the other games next to me, which have suddenly become exciting.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - Washington St has scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 36-29 lead. WSU started with what worked so well in the first half, a pass inside to Baynes for a layup. Cowgill added a jumper, and Low got on the board with his first three of the night. That caused Randy Peele to call timeout.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - We're all tied up at 29 at the half in Denver.

Taj McCullough had a monster half with 15 points on 7-14 shooting. Chris Gaynor had three long balls to give him 9. The rest of the team had four.

For Wazzu, it was all Kyle Weaver with 12 and Aron Baynes with 10. Derrick Low is lying low. He missed all five of his first half shots.

We are being entertained by the WSU dance team at halftime. As dance teams go, it's pretty small. There are only six girls. Maybe it's not the entire team.

Winthrop's dance team went out after that, and they have something I've never seen - a guy.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - This game has been dominated by three guys so far. Washington St has 10 points from Kyle Weaver and eight from Aron Baynes, mostly on dunks. Winthrop is being carried by Taj McCullough with 10 as well. WSU leads at the last timeout of the half 23-21.

I apologize for any errors in the previous paragraph. The Washington St cheerleaders just went flying past.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - We have our first "Airball!" chant of the day. Kyle Weaver of WSU just missed everything right before the timeout.

Taj Mccullough has six points to pace the Eagles to a 10-8 lead at the second timeout.

Supposedly, Dick Bennett, former Wisconsin coach and father of WSU coach Tony, is in the house, but we haven't found him yet.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - There hasn't been much scoring so far. Washington St is up 4-2 at the first timeout.

Cougar fans jumped out of their seats early when the team forced a shot clock violation. It's been tough going for both teams trying to get good looks at the basket.

The Eagle mascot is pretty limber and active for a guy in a big wool costume with a fiberglass head.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - We have half the crowd that we had for the morning sessions, although ND fans may not be here yet. Those that are hear are fired up for this game, especially the group of Winthrop backers behind me, which has already caught the attention of the CBS cameraman in front of me.

Our refs for tonight are Jeff Clark, Randy Heimerman and TV himself, Teddy Valentine.

The Eagle mascot wears a jersey with the name "Big Stuff"

The Cougar mascot has no name on his jersey, but neither does the players for WSU.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DENVER, Colo. - The game is still half an hour away, but the starting lineups are out for our first game tonight between Winthrop, the Big South champion, and Washington St of the Pac 10.

Winthrop starts three seniors, guards Chris Gaynor and Michael Jenkins, and forward Taj McCullough, along with sophomore forward Mantoris Robinson and freshman C Charles Corbin. The Eagles are coached by Randy Peele, who took over for Gregg Marshall, who left for Wichita St.

Wazzu starts three seniors as well, Robbie Cowgill (how much do you want to bet the kids in his neighborhood called him "cowgirl"), forward Kyle Weaver, and guard Derrick Low, from Hawai'i. The other starters are juniors Taylor Rochestie at guard and C Aron Baynes.

As Winthrop took the floor to warm up, the smattering of Eagle fans behind me gave them a rousing cheer. Washington St has twice as many fans here as Winthrop does at the moment, which, by my math, makes it two smatterings. The building is virtually empty 30 minutes before the tip.

The Winthrop band is here and playing. They are sporting basketball jerseys over white t-shirts, and goofy maroon and yellow hats varying from court jester types to cat-in-the-hat top hats.

Washington State's band has yet to make an appearance, although I assume they will because they do the National Anthem.

Posted by Jerry Palm at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- While many people came into this week's Pac-10 Tournament knowing that several teams needed to have strong performances in order to rid themselves of any further bubble talk, tomorrow's final won't feature any surprises.

Instead, No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 2 Stanford will square off after the Cardinal took down third-seeded Washington State, 75-68, in front of a packed house at Staples Center.

"I'm just glad we won't have to see Washington State again for the rest of the year," Stanford coach Trent Johnson said afterward. "I thought we did a very good job of keeping our poise and taking care of the ball at crucial times and also defending. They're tough to guard. I think we all know that."

Brook Lopez was once again the culprit for Stanford (26-6 overall, 13-5 Pac-10), as the sophomore 7-footer knocked down 11-of-22 shots for a game-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 37 minutes.

"He was a load down there," WSU senior Kyle Weaver said of Lopez. "It is tough when they space you and he is scoring and you have shooters ready to knock down open shots. They just strain you on defense."

Weaver was certainly tough to guard and was almost as good as Lopez for Washington State (24-8, 11-7), finishing with a team-high 25 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough in the end for the Cougars, who shot an impressive 60 percent (12-for-20) from three.

"They are a different kind of team," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said of Stanford. "They beat us three times this year and we obviously couldn't crack the code. I thought tonight was maybe our least impressive outing against them of the three."

That might have been due to the 37-28 rebounding edge that the Cardinal held, or maybe the 14 turnovers that Washington State committed, but the Cougars never seemed to quit even when the game looked to be in Stanford's hands.

"I told our kids I respected our comeback," Bennett added. "I thought it was a gutsy comeback. We made some shots and did some nice things, but I didn't feel like we played a real smart, sound game. I thought we got a little out of our game and that is hard against a team of this caliber."

Lawrence Hill, who led Stanford at halftime with 10 points, finished with 14 on 4-of-11 shooting in addition to four rebounds, two assists and two steals as the only other Cardinal player besides Lopez to tally double-digit points.

Washington State, on the other hand, had four scorers reach double figures, as Derrick Low hit 4-of-8 threes to finish with 15 points and Daven Harmeling hit all four of his long-range attempts for 13 points. Taylor Rochestie chipped in 11 and dished out five assists from his point guard position.

"I thought we gave it our all and never gave up," Low said of his team's effort. "I think that is the most important thing. Unfortunately we didn't win."

While the loss may hurt now for the Cougars, Bennett knows that his team is squarely in the NCAA Tournament starting next week, and that's certainly the case for UCLA and Stanford as well as USC.

The one question that remains, though, is how many teams will the Pac-10 actually get?

While some predictions believe seven teams from the conference will make the Big Dance, some have said six and even five.

Ask coaches across the league, and seven seems to be the magic number.

"I think seven are going to get in," UCLA coach Ben Howland said after the Bruins' tough 57-54 win over USC earlier in the day. "I think seven should get in...No other league is as tough as this league this year. This is the best this league has ever been. No question. And the true test is, once these teams do get in, how they perform in the NCAA Tournament as a conference. I am very confident that our conference will do well."

"I would be extremely disappointed if there weren't seven teams," Johnson maintained. "Our strength of schedule isn't anything like our seventh-place team's last year. I mean, my goodness, Arizona, Oregon, Arizona State. Are you kidding me?"

If the NCAA Tournament selection committee does select seven, they certainly won't.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With 24.3 seconds left, Washington State has pulled within three of Stanford thanks to some misses from Mitch Johnson on the free throw line.

The Cougars were able to get a crucial steal on its last possession and a layup underneath on a three-point miss to cut the Cardinal's lead to 71-68.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- After a three by Daven Harmeling at the two-minute mark, Stanford has its lead down to eight, but a foul by Taylor Rochestie and a free throw by Anthony Goods has the lead at nine.

Unless Stanford starts clanking its free throws, the Cardinal should be moving on to tomorrow's championship game against UCLA in what will be a rematch of last week's Pac-10 title game, one that was sent to overtime on a controversial foul call against Lawrence Hill.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With five minutes left, Aron Baynes was originally called for his fifth personal foul, but after some discussion between the officials, the foul was given to Taylor Rochestie, his second.

Stanford has taken control of this one with a 65-54 lead after a Robin Lopez dunk, and Tony Bennett is starting to look frustrated.

At the other end of the stadium, Westside Rental Man has made his return to the Staples Center this evening and he's dancing in his crazy ways again while wearing his jackal hat and a bright pink sports coat.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- At the under eight-minute timeout, Washington State has crept a little bit closer to Stanford, trailing by a seven-point margin.

Brook Lopez has been dominant as ever having already recorded 28 points to this point, and Lawrence Hill has been stuck on 10 points for what seems like awhile now.

Kyle Weaver, meanwhile, is WSU's top scorer with 18 points, but the Cougars have got some balance with Taylor Rochestie at 11 points and Derrick Low at 13 points.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With just under 12 minutes to go, Stanford is clinging to a five-point lead as Washington State tries to climb its way back into the game.

The Cardinal, however, have proved to be tough and hard-nosed with its frontcourt play, and even with Aron Baynes giving it his all, it's been nearly impossible for Tony Bennett's team to stop Brook Lopez.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With four minutes gone into the second half, Stanford has pushed its lead up to seven on Washington State and Brook Lopez is leading the way once again with 16 points.

The Cougars are in need of a run to get themselves back within striking distance, and they'll need sharpshooter Derrick Low, who had only four points in the first half, to get going from the perimeter.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Stanford has got out to a five-point lead with a couple minutes left before halftime at Staples Center, and the Cardinal are having a tough time containing Kyle Weaver, who already has 12 points on the evening.

Brook Lopez has been banging down low with Aron Baynes, who has 11 points at the moment, but it's been Lawrence Hill who has led the Cardinal with 10 points.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- As Washington State and Stanford battle back and forth, it's the Cardinal with a two-point with five minutes to go before halftime.

The Cougars have got the Lopez twins to foul a couple times going after offensive rebounds, and if Tony Bennett's team wants to advance to tomorrow's final against UCLA, it will need to limit the activity of Brook and Robin, the two main offensive and defensive threats for Stanford.

At the 4:41 mark, it's Stanford up, 26-24.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- We're into our second semifinal at Taples Center, and it's No. 3 seed Washington State holding an early lead on second-seeded Stanford.

Kyle Weaver has given the Cougars a nice boost offensively in the first few minutes of this one and Brook Lopez is trying to have another quality performance after providing the Cardinal with 20 points last night in a 11-point win over Arizona.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With 30 seconds to go, Tajuan Porter was just called for a traveling violation, leaving Oregon little hope of a comeback now, trailing 72-66 and Nikola Koprivica staying steady from the free throw line.

The sophomore guard managed to tally only one point in the first half but has done his work in the second half from the free throw line and now has seven points.

After a Derrick Low free throw, the Ducks looked to be cooked even after Malik Hairston's bucket.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With two minutes left in this one, we got quite a game on our hands as Malik Hairston just missed the front end of a one-and-one to keep Washington State ahead, 66-61.

Tajuan Porter has picked up his third foul at the other end, and Taylor Rochestie hit both free throws to put WSU up by a seven-point lead.

But that wasn't exactly safe, as Tajuan Porter just knocked down a huge three to trim the lead back down to four with 1:23 left to play now.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- While we've managed to keep focused on the game -- mostly that is -- we have to pay our respects to the renowned Westside Rental car, who's made a living attending college basketball games throughout the L.A. area in hopes of publicizing his moving business.

And WRM, as we'll refer to him as from now on, seems to have a different outfit for all four quarterfinal games today. Right now he's wearing a pair of red and black striped pants to go along withhblack tights and a jackal's hat while standing up and dancing to the PA music during every timeout that's been called.

According to Mr. Ahalt, WRM was present at the Big West Tournament down at the Anaheim Convention Center, and maybe if he's here for tomorrow's semifinals, we'll make a point of asking the man just how he does it. He's certainly got a laugh out of me and the other thousands in attendance here with his creative apparel and better yet, his dance moves.

So from the Posting Up perch, we'd like to say keep on dancing moving man...

Meanwhile, on the court, we have a five-point game as Oregon has just knocked down a three to cut WSU's lead to 65-59 with 4:13 remaining.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With about 10 minutes left in our third game of the day, Washington State is still clinging to a 10-point lead on Oregon, and the Ducks are starting to gain a little momentum due to some good defensive pressure.

After a layup by Malik Hairston, Oregon has just cut the lead to eight with 9:31 remaining and Tajuan Porter has started to find his shot from deep after canning a long one from the top of the key with a hand in his face.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Right before the horn sounded for halftime, Oregon got a big three from LeKendric Longmire to cut Washington State's lead to 42-27.

The Cougars have got it done from the three-point line, blazing through the nets with a 71.4-percent clip (yes, that's no joke) from beyond the arc.

Derrick Low has been the culprit in large part for the Cougars, knocking down three of his four threes to tally a game-high 11 points in 17 minutes. Backcourt mates Taylor Rochestie and Kyle Weaver each had nine and Weaver was also active passing the ball, adding five assists to his stat line.

On the glass, both teams have been pretty even so far, with WSU holding a slight 13-11 edge over Oregon, which is shooting a solid 47.6 percent from the field. But when you compare that to the Cougars' 61.5-percent mark, it doesn't nearly look as good unfortunately.

Malik Hairston is leading the Ducks in scoring at the break with nine and Bryce Taylor has remained rather quiet with four points and an assist.

In the turnover column, it's Oregon with seven while WSU has handled the ball cleanly for the first 20 minutes, committing just two TOs to its 10 assists.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- With about five minutes to go in the first half, Washington State is cruising along with a 31-17 lead as Taylor Rochestie has led the charge with nine points.

FSN's Bill McDonald is sitting along side the Posting Up perch and needed some confirmation on his hair. I let him know that it was looking good and he had nothing to worry about when he makes his next appearance in front of the camera.

Meanwhile, Derrick Low is just raining threes, knocking down back-to-back treys from the right side of the arc, one from the wing and one from the corner, to open up WSU's lead to 34-20, and tally a team-high 11 points.

Marty Leunen and Malik Hairston each have five points for Oregon.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- We're through 10 minutes of the first half here at Staples Center and it's been Washington State in control so far, as the Cougars are up by double digits.

The Ducks are trying to hang around right now, but offense has come sparingly for Ernie Kent's squad.

Taylor Rochestie has been the Cougars' main scorer for the moment and Derrick Low has some flashes of promise early on as well.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA coach Ben Howland couldn't be more proud of his team's defensive effort for the first 38 minutes of the Bruins' 81-74 victory over Washington State on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

The last two minutes? Well, he was just happy to get over with. Washington State made seven 3-pointers during the final 1:34 of the contest to cut a double-digit lead down to as few as four points. UCLA made its free throws to hold off the late charging Cougars and leave Howland a bit breathless in the postgame press conference.

"I'm glad I'm still alive right now," Howland quipped. "That was tough to take. That's a really, really good team we beat today and when I said I felt they could make a Final Four, I meant that. They have the potential to go a long way, to go far in the NCAA Tournament."

Continue reading "UCLA Makes Its Case" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Washington State made six three-pointers in the last 1:19 of the game but UCLA made all six free throw attempts and finished with an 81-74 victory to remain undefeated in Pac-10 play while handing Washington State its first loss of the season. Kevin Love had 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Bruins, who improve to 16-1 overall and 4-0 in conference. The Cougars fall to 14-1 overall and 2-1 in conference.

More to come after post-game interviews.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Washington State entered today's game at UCLA undefeated and the Cougars aren't just going to accept their first loss without a fight. Derrick Low has hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut into UCLA's lead, which is now 57-49, with just 5:07 left in the contest.

Washington State will need to continue to earn stops and hit some big perimeter shots to have a chance at this one.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Washington State tried to make its way back from a sizable deficit against UCLA, embarking on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 51-41 with 9:16 left in the game.

Daven Harmeling, who had a team-high 19 points at USC on Thursday, finally scored with a 4-point play, making a 3-pointer and getting fouled with 9:36 left in the contest. Kyle Weaver made a steal and Washington State's Nikola Koprivica scored on a fast break layup to cut the lead to 10 points.

UCLA answered right back. The Bruins drew two fouls before Kevin Love rebounded his own miss and scored on the put-back and then Josh Shipp dunked to finish a fast break and give UCLA a 55-41 lead with 7:40 left.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- I can't blame Washington State Aron Baynes if he would prefer to be down under his covers right now. The 6-foot-10 center from Australia has been abused by the UCLA crowd at Pauley Pavilion with two air balls from the free throw line this half.

UCLA leads, 46-33, with around 11 minutes left in the second half. Don't look for much to change unless Washington State can get hot from the perimeter.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- It took all of about one possession to see UCLA freshman center Kevin Love has great hands but it takes more than a good pair of mitts for the post prodigy to step out and nail a three-pointer to put the Bruins up, 42-24, with 16:56 left in the game.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA heads into halftime with a 35-22 lead after Taylor Rochestie hit an off-balance three-pointer just before the buzzer for Washington State. You couldn't blame the Cougars if it felt more like cleaning dishes or cleaning their rooms on the offensive side of the ball. UCLA's defense made every pass, every shot a chore for the Cougars and it showed -- especially through the first 15 minutes of the half. Washington State made just 2 of its first 11 field goals and made just 8 of 21 shots for the half.

UCLA fans got a chance to welcome home new UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel who pointed to the student cheering section courtside and said, "I can't believe its been 28 years since I was a freshman sitting right there."

Neuheisel called UCLA "magic" and said, "look at the banners in this room and you know what we're all about." He talked about UCLA's 100 national titles and said his goal as football coach is "to be part of the next 100 national championships."

And in case you were wondering, the UCLA crowd ate every word up.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- The Washington State offense finally seems to have found some life. The Cougars still trail UCLA, 32-19, but after a five-minute scoreless stretch, which saw UCLA build a 26-8 lead, it was imperative for Washington State to get some points on the board before the half.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA coach Ben Howland clearly has Bruins fans trained well at Pauley Pavilion. As the shot clock ran down on a Washington State possession, the UCLA home crowd racheted up the noise and seemed to contribute to the UCLA defense preventing the Cougars from even getting a shot off at the end of the possession.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook might be a focal point of the Bruins offense, but he's showing off his offensive skills in the first half. He is one of three Bruins with six points as UCLA leads Washington State, 20-8, with 7:15 left in the first half.

Westbrook scored on a slam dunk on the break, hit a nice jump shot from the free throw line and also showed his ability to move without the basketball and make a cut which led to an easy basket.

ADD: He can play some defense too - making a steal and pushing up a fast break and earning the assist on a slam dunk by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to make it 24-8.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Washington State is known for its excellent ball movement and knocking down open looks. But what if there's always somebody there?

That seems to be UCLA's approach to things as the Bruins have taken a 16-6 lead with 10:50 lef tin the first half. The Cougars have just one field goal, which was a transition layup by Taylor Rochestie, and four free throws from center Aron Baynes.

UCLA has managed to keep a defender near the Cougars' shooters and made every pass a chore. That can't be fun for Washington State, which loves to pass.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA has jumped to an 11-1 lead in the first half over Washington State and the Pauley Pavilion crowd roared after Russell Westbrook finished a fast-break with a slam dunk over a Washington State defender.

The dunk came on the heels of a Kevin Love hook shot off the block, which appears to be just an example of his low post savvy.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA leads Washington State, 5-0, with 15:44 left in the first half but the Cougars senior guard Kyle Weaver missed three closeup shots.

Weaver found a hole in the UCLA defense and looked like he would score on a baseline move early but missed and then missed his tip back. A few possessions later he blew a layup. Washington State had to move Derrick Low to the bench after he picked up two quick fouls.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- The scoreboard monitor at Pauley Pavilion noted today's game between No. 5 UCLA and No. 4 Washington State is just the sixth Top 5 matchup in Pacific-10 Conference history.

It should be great to see how these two defensive-minded teams matchup and how the hyped freshman Kevin Love performs in this massive showdown. Tip off is almost here.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Maybe it has something to do with residing in the frozen outpost of Pullman, Wash. but there's little doubt Washington State doesn't carry the same clout most programs would when ranked No. 4 in the nation.

There's no doubt it would be a mistake to overlook the undefeated Cougars, who are 15-0 for the time since the 1916-17 season. They were awarded the national championship by the Helms Foundation of Los Angeles for that season and if they're going to make a serious run at another national title, it's going to start here in Los Angeles.

Washington State dispensed with USC, 73-58, and moved on to a Top 5 showdown against UCLA on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Daven Harmeling had the hot hand in the first half scoring 14 of his team-high 19 points while center Aron Baynes put away the Trojans with 16 of his 18 points in the second half.

Continue reading "Don't Underestimate These Underdogs" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 01:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Washington State remained undefeated with a 73-58 victory over host USC at the Galen Center. Washington State took care of the basketball with 17 assists against seven turnovers. USC did not record a steal in the contest and managed just four free throws while the Cougars made 13 of 18 free throws.

Washington State improved to 14-0 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10 and will take its undefeated record into Pauley Pavilion on Saturday to face UCLA. USC falls to 9-6 overall and is now 0-3 in conference play.

I'll be back with more after hearing what the coaches and players had to say about this contest.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Washington State tried to pull away after recording back-to-back slam dunks by Aron Baynes and Kyle Weaver but USC is trying to stay in it trailing, 64-56, with 2:54 left in the game.

Baynes got an easy dunk on a press break and Weaver stole the ensuing inbounds for another easy jam. But Baynes missed a pair of shots near the hoop and USC rattled off six straight points. O.J. Mayo scored a bucket and Dwight Lewis made a basket and two free throws.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - O.J. Mayo just shot and made USC's first two free throws of the contest with 4:43 left in the game.

Washington State still leads, 58-48.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Washington State's patience on offense and excellent defense clearly has USC frustrated and is sucking the life out of this young USC team with the Cougars assembling a 56-42 lead with 6:44 left in the contest.

USC has plenty of talent but the Cougars take excellent care of the ball and haven't given up much in the way of dribble penetration. Its clearly a winning recipe for the undefeated Cougars.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - It might be called the free throw but teams have to earn the right to reach the charity stripe. Washington State is particularly stingy about that part. The Cougars have "held" five previous opponents to under 10 free throws for a contest.

Baylor, Mississippi Valley State, The Citadel, Montana and Idaho look like they're about to be joined by USC in this category and if USC doesn't figure something out soon, it might become the first to go without attempting one freebie.

That's right. Washington State leads, 50-40, with under 10 minutes left in the game and the Trojans have yet to attempt one free throw. If USC wants to win this one, it is going to need to change that stat drastically.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Washington State is trying to pull away in the second half against USC with a 42-33 lead. Kyle Weaver scored on a nifty give-and-go with Robbie Cowgill, who followed with his own bucket after a nice baseline drive to force USC coach Tim Floyd to call a timeout.

USC has yet to shoot a free throw this game and has been unable to generate a fast break.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Clearly Washington State coach Tony Bennett didn't like watching his team score just two points in the paint during the first half. The Cougars have a 37-31 lead with 15:27 left in the second half and have made a concerted effort to go to 6-foot-10 center Aron Baynes on a regular basis. Baynes has a dunk and has made 3-of-4 free throws in the second half.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - USC coach Tim Floyd and Washington State coach Tony Bennett shouldn't have been bored during the halftime break.

The Cougars leads, 27-23, and might have shown an ability to control the tempo of the game while keeping the USC home crowd out of the game for the most part but it was anything but a perfect first half. The Cougars are living off the hot hand of junior forward Daven Harmeling, who scored 14 points. Washington State made 7 of 12 3-pointers, and Harmeling connecting on four of them. However, the Cougars need to do a better job of scoring in the paint. They've scored just two points inside and made just 9 of 27 field goals.

USC must continue to get Taj Gibson high percentage shots and the Trojans best chance to do that is the change the tempo of this game. OJ Mayo pushed it after a defensive rebound and it resulted in an easy fast break basket. USC also need to penetrate the Washington State defense in the second half. The Trojans did not attempt a free throw in the first half.

The second half is underway, let's see if either team can make these adjustments.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - USC freshman OJ Mayo made one more play before halftime, breaking down the Washington State defense with dribble penetration and finding Taj Gibson on the baseline for his third slam dunk of the half. Washington State leads USC, 27-23, at halftime.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - O.J. Mayo showed why numerous NBA scouts are in attendance at the Galen Center for USC's game against No. 4 Washington State in a series of possessions before Daven Harmeling answered right back for Washington State, which leads, 27-21, with 15.4 seconds remaining before halftime.

First, Mayo pulled up off the dribble and swished in a 3-pointer from the wing. Then, he followed it up with a defensive rebound and started a fast break which he finished by finding Taj Gibson, who hit a crowd-pleasing slam dunk.

Harmeling responded with a trio of 3-pointers -- all of them from the same spot on the court.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Washington State is showing their typical display of ball movement, solid outside shooting and solid rebounding but USC hasn't been able to find much of an offensive rhythm.

The Trojans have at least three air balls and were called for offensive fouls on its past two possessions. Washington State leads, 18-12, with under six minutes in the first half.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Taj Gibson is off to a quick start as USC tries to get its first Pac-10 Conference victory of the season against No. 4 Washington State at the Galen Center. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward scored two quick buckets and the teams are tied, 6-6, with 15 minutes left in the first half. Gibson received a massive cheer of support after he hammered home an alley-oop slam dunk off an inbounds pass that was right in front of the student section, which is clad in gold T-shirts.

Gibson hasn't been an offensive force this season, averaging just 8.9 points per game so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him become a focal part of Coach Tim Floyd's game plan against the Cougars.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)