Questions or comments? Please direct them to Jessica Schmick, Assistant Director, Athletic Media Relations, Washington State University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, at jessica_schmick@wsu.edu.

Wednesday, March 18 (12:45 a.m.)

Good Evening/Morning!

As many of you know, the Cougars' season came to an end this evening with their disappointing 68-57 loss to Saint Mary's in the first round of the NIT in Moraga, Calif. I'm not sure if many of you have visited Saint Mary's before, but it's a beautiful campus, very secluded. The team stayed in Walnut Creek and bused up, about a 20 minute ride, up winding hills and beautiful countryside. I was very surprised with how green it was out here. It was definitely emotional after the game as it was the final game for a fine senior class full of great basketball players and great young men. With that said, I will get on to our postgame recap here at the Crimson ZZU. I hope I can do it justice, I know it was the final game, but that doesn't necessarily mean the final blog entry.

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes. For the third-straight game the player of the game honors go to the 6-10 Australian. Baynes recorded his fifth double-double of the season and the 11th of his career, putting up 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Baynes added two blocked shots and a steal in 34 minutes of action. He made seven of the nine free throws he attempted and finished 6-for-10 from the field. Baynes was also a large part of WSU outrebounding Saint Mary's, 34-33, and grabbed half of his boards on the offensive end. Over the last three games Baynes averaged 20.3 points. The Aussie also recorded his third double-digit scoring first half in four games with 10 of his points in the first half. Five of Baynes' six field goals came via dunks, including a one-handed put back in the first half.
Honorable Mention Player of the Game: Taylor Rochestie. Although the 6-1 guard got off to a slow start tonight, he finished with 14 points playing all 40 minutes. There was no rest for the senior on defense as he spent over 20 minutes guarding the Gaels' sharpshooter Patrick Mills. Rochestie added an assist and a steal and made his only free throw attempt to cap off an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Turning Point of the Game: The Gaels' 7-0 run from 6:09 to 4:44 in the second half. The Cougars fought back from a 13-point halftime deficit and 17-point deficit in the second period to pull within four points at 57-53 with 6:33 to go in the game. Less than 30 seconds after Marcus Capers' jumper that pulled the Cougs within four, Patrick Mills hit both of his free throw attempts to extend the lead to 59-53. Omar Samhan followed with a jumper off a missed Cougar shot. WSU missed its next shot attempt down the court and Saint Mary's Diamon Simpson got his own rebound to give his team a 63-54 lead. The Gaels' capped off the run with a free throw shot by Samhan at the 4:44 mark to give the home team a 10-point lead back. The Cougars never got closer than nine at that point as Saint Mary's went on for the win.

Stat of the Game: Postseason play. The Cougars' trip to the NIT marked its third-consecutive trip to the postseason, and just the second time in school history that feat had been accomplished. The last two seasons the Cougars made the NCAA Tournament as this year's NIT appearance was WSU's fourth overall and first since 1996. Prior to Tuesday's game, the Cougars had never lost a first round game in the NIT. WSU went 1-1 in 1992, 2-1 in 1995 and 1-1 in 1996. The Cougars are now 4-4 all-time in the NIT.

Play of the Game: Baynes' one-handed put back dunk. With just about eight and a half minutes remaining in the first half and the Cougars trailing 22-13, Taylor Rochestie attempted a floater in the lane. The shot bounced off the rim right into the hands of a jumping Baynes. Baynes reached up with one hand and slammed the dunk down cutting the lead to seven with 8:26 to go in the game.

That will do it for tonight. We have an early wakeup call as the team heads to the airport at 6:45 a.m. to head home. There will be more from the Crimson ZZU in the following days.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Monday, March 16 (10:35 p.m.)

Hello!

It's been a long day for the Cougars as they arrived in the Bay Area this afternoon. The team left Beasley Coliseum at 9:50 a.m. and bused up to Spokane to catch its flight to Oakland at 12:20 p.m. The Cougs' plane landed around 2:45 p.m. in Oakland and the team bused to its hotel in Walnut Creek and then practiced on the campus of Saint Mary's before returning to its hotel for dinner and a good night's rest. The Cougars had a solid practice today, focusing on rebounding and defense (not much different from usual).

The big game is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2. I found out the talent for the game, it will be Terry Gannon and Stephen Bardo.

There's not much more to report on from here. I will be back with more later from California.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Monday, March 16 (1:55 a.m.)

Good Morning Cougars!

I apologize for getting this posted so late, I needed to get everything finished up before we leave for California. In case you haven't heard, the Cougars got their first NIT bid in 13 years, grabbing the No. 7 seed in the San Diego State Region of the 32-team NIT bracket. First up for WSU is No. 2 Saint Mary's, whom many of you are familiar with I'm sure through its rivalry with Gonzaga. The first round game takes place Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. PDT on Saint Mary's home court in Moraga, Calif. The game will be televised live on ESPN2, although I do not know who the talent will be yet.

The Cougars found out the good news in a gathering at Coach Bennett's home. Afterward it was work, work, work for the coaches and athletics staff as everyone got ready for Tuesday's game. The team will take off Monday morning (in just about nine hours or so) and fly out of Spokane down to the Bay Area. The Cougs will practice at Saint Mary's Monday evening in preparation for the game.

The second round is still yet to be determined. However if WSU were to get past Saint Mary's, it would have to travel to one of the Carolinas (either North or South) to take on either No. 6 Davidson or No. 3 South Carolina. The game could take place either March 19, 20, 21 or 23. Since the Cougs are a seventh seed out of eight, they will be playing on the road the entire tournament unless they meet up with a No. 8 seed, which in the San Diego State Region would be Weber State. For a complete bracket, click HERE.

The notes are up for Tuesday's game, you can find them HERE. That will be all for this evening/morning as I need to get home and pack for the trip.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Thursday, March 12 (11:35 p.m.)

Good Evening!

The Cougars had another tough one tonight, falling to second-seeded UCLA, 64-53, at the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament. The Cougs' comeback fell short and they couldn't overcome their slow start. Now WSU must wait until Sunday to see if it will be selected for the NIT or by one of the other two postseason tournaments. Right now here's the postgame recap.

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes. For the second-straight game Baynes took charge for the Cougars, reaching the 20-point plateau. Baynes had a game-high 22 points on 8-for-15 from the field while adding six free throws. Baynes also had six rebounds, three of them on the offensive end, and all four of WSU's blocked shots. The 6-10 Aussie scored 42 percent of the Cougs' points, playing 38 of the 40 possible minutes. Defensively Baynes had another solid effort, helping hold UCLA's starting center Alfred Aboya to just six points on 1-for7 shooting from the field.
Honorable Mention POG: DeAngelo Casto. The freshman forward scored just four points on 2-for-5 from the field but tied a team high with eight rebounds, five of them on the offensive end before fouling out in the second half. Casto added a steal in just 14 minutes of action for the Cougars.

Turning Point of the Game: The Bruins' 21-0 run in the first half. Although the Cougars were able to get some momentum back in the second half, UCLA took charge of the game early. After WSU took its first and only lead of the game at 5-4 with 16:07 to go in the first half, UCLA used a 21-0 run to take a commanding 25-5 advantage with 9:37 to go in the half. During the six and a half minute run, the Cougars missed 12-consecutive shots. The Cougars did outscore UCLA 12-3 in the next five minutes and were able to cut the UCLA Bruin lead to 12 at halftime, but WSU couldn't recover, eventually falling by 11 points.

Stat of the Game: Shooting. The Cougars shot at just a .206 mark from the field in the first half, .006 better than its worst first half shooting performance of the season against Stanford (4-for-20) Jan. 10. The Cougars went 7-for-34 from the field in the opening period, compared to 12-for-29 from the Burins. Although making just seven field goals, the Cougars were just one shy of their season-high for field goal attempts of 35 accomplished against Canisius (Nov. 25). In the first 10 and a half minutes, the Cougars shot just .118 from the 2-for-17 field. The Cougars shot .423 in the second half to improve their shooting percentage to .300 for the game.

Play of the Game: Harmeling's dish to Baynes for the dunk. With four and a half minutes to go in the first half and the Cougars trailing by 11, Daven Harmeling got the ball at the top of the key. Harmeling dribbled to his left to wait for Baynes cutting in the key. Harmeling bounce passed to Baynes waiting right in front of the hoop. Baynes converted the dunk and was fouled for a potential 3-point play. The free throw attempt was missed, but the dish and dunk made the top play cut.

That does it for tonight. We will find out what the travel plans are for tomorrow soon. I will be back with postseason updates this weekend.

Keep it crimson,

Jessica Schmick

Wednesday, March 11 (11:45 p.m.)

Good Evening Cougs!

The Cougars knocked the Ducks out of the Pac-10 Tournament for the second-straight season tonight with a big 62-40 victory. Next up for WSU is UCLA Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. We're running a little late with things due to all the late starts and everything going on with the tournament, but here it is, the postgame recap from the Crimson ZZU.

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes. The Aussie led the team in scoring with 20 points, adding eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action Wednesday. Baynes scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half and finished the night going 7-for-8 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The 6-10 center reached the 20-point plateau for the second time this season and the fourth in his career, falling two short of his season-high of 22 which he reached at Arizona State Jan. 29. Baynes had another solid game defensively as no Oregon big man scored more than four points. Twenty-eight of WSU's 62 points came in the paint thanks in large part to Baynes who scored in various ways including his signature hook shot, layups, dunks and a jumper from the elbow.
Honorable Mention POG: Caleb Forrest. The 6-9 forward also had a solid night on the floor going 6-for-8 from the field while making both his free throw attempts for 14 points. Forrest added five rebounds an assist, a block and a steal. Ten of Forrest's 14 points came in the second half as did his assist and steal. Like Baynes, Forrest's defense also helped hold the Oregon big men as none of them scored more than four points. DeAngelo Casto. The freshman forward reached double-figure scoring for the third time in his young career, scoring 10 points in a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the field. Two of his field goals came by way of dunks. Casto also went 2-for-2 from the free throw line and added two assists and a steal in 17 minutes of action. Casto was another large factor in WSU's inside defensive dominance.

Turning Point of the Game: The Cougars' 6-0 run early in the first half. WSU jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead with 17:22 to go in the first half but Oregon was able to cut the lead to two at 6-4 with 16:36 to go. Over the next three minutes the Cougs went on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 10 points at 14-4 and set the tone for the game. WSU made the run with its inside presence as 10 of its first 14 points came from Baynes and Forrest, eight of them from Baynes alone. The Ducks weren't able to get closer than within six the rest of the game as the Cougars went on for the win.

Stat of the Game: No 3-pointers. The Cougars attempted a season-low six 3-point field goals and did not make a single one. It was the first time since Feb. 9, 2006 that the Cougs did not make a 3-pointer. WSU fell to UCLA, 50-30 in that game and went 0-for-7 from 3-point. The Cougars attempted just one 3-point field goal in the first half. Heading into the game the Cougars were averaging 5.8 made 3-pointers a game. Although the Ducks were just around their average of 7.7 made 3's a game with seven, they shot just 25.0 percent from beyond the arc making 7-of-28.

Play of the Game: It's a bit of a tossup between Casto's dunk and Rochestie's fast break dish to Koprivica. With 12:51 to go in the first half Casto found himself alone on the block with the basketball facing the opposite end of the court. After a quick contemplation Casto spun to the hoop and went up with his right hand for the one-handed dunk. In the second half Rochestie and Koprivica put together back-to-back fast break layups. In the second one with 9:22 to go in the game, Rochestie drove the ball down the court and once he got to the free throw line sensed Koprivica to his right. The point guard threw the bounce pass behind his back in the perfect spot for Koprivica who went up at the center of the rim and put the ball in the hoop.

That does it for tonight's postgame recap. We will be back with more from L.A. Thursday.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Tuesday, March 10 (10:30 p.m.)

Good Evening!

It's been a busy day for the Cougs as they made the trip to Los Angeles for the Pac-10 Tournament. The day started at 9 a.m. at Beasley Coliseum where the team took the floor for practice. At 10:50 the bus departed Beasley for the Moscow/Pullman Airport to catch the flight. The Cougs connected at SeaTac before arriving in L.A. just around 5:45 p.m. After landing the team bused to its hotel downtown where the guys had dinner. After dinner Taylor Rochestie and Klay Thompson each had an interview to do for FSN, so look for stuff from them during the Pac-10 Tournament coverage.

WSU is the No. 7 seed in this year's Pac-10 Tournament and will take on 10th-seeded Oregon Wednesday at 8:30 at Staples Center. I'm sure most of you recall that the Cougs took on the Ducks in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament, coming out on top, 75-70. Last year WSU was the No. 3 seed and Oregon the No. 6 seed. Oregon is just one of three teams that the Cougars have a winning record against in the Pac-10 Tournament (2-1) and the only team WSU has multiple wins over in the tournament. WSU also holds 1-0 records against Washington and UCLA, whom, with a win it would face in the quarterfinals. The only Pac-10 school Washington State hasn't faced in the tournament is California. For more information on the tournament and other Cougar tidbits, check out the game notes HERE.

That does it for tonight. Look for more from L.A. on the Crimson ZZU.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Saturday, March 7 (9 p.m.)

Good Evening!

Well, it was a disappointing loss at Washington, but it's going to be a quick turnaround for WSU as it gets ready for the Pac-10 Tournament which begins Wednesday. With the action all finished up for the day, all the matchups are set. The Cougars have the No. 7 seed and will take on the No. 10 seed Oregon at 8:30 p.m. at the Staples Center Wednesday in the first round of the tournament.  The winner of the Cougar-Duck game will take on second-seeded UCLA at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. For a complete tournament bracket and final Pac-10 standings, click HERE.

The team is now back from Seattle. The trip was a bit longer than planned with bad weather causing the plane to land in Lewiston where the Cougars bused up to Pullman, arriving around 9:15 p.m. Now on to the postgame recap.

Player of the Game: Aron Baynes. The 6-10 senior recorded his fifth double-double of the season and eighth of his career as he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Along the way the Aussie became the 30th Cougar to score 1,000 career points, as he now has 1,003 points in his four-year career. Baynes went 4-for-5 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line, tying his career high for free throws made while his 10 free throw attempts marked a season-high. On the defensive end Baynes helped hold Washington's Jon Brockman to seven points, six below his average. Baynes also blocked a game-high three shots and had WSU's lone steal. He played 39 minutes, which is a career high for 40-minute games. The only game Baynes played more minutes in was last Saturday's overtime victory over Arizona State in which he clocked 40 minutes.
Honorable Mention POG: Taylor Rochestie. The senior point guard scored a game-high 23 points adding three rebounds and four assists in all 40 minutes of action. The Santa Barbara-native stepped up in the second half, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the final 20 minutes of play. Between the 13:15 and 4:24 marks in the second half, Rochestie accounted for 15 of the Cougars' 20 points, pulling them within two points at 58-56.

Turning Point of the Game: Brockman's steal at the 2:44 mark. After the Cougars put together a long, slow comeback, they finally got back within two points at 58-56 with 4:24 to go in the game. On UW's next possession Darnell Gant got called for an offensive foul, looking like the momentum had swung back to WSU. Out of the media timeout, the Cougars couldn't capitalize on the possession, missing a jump shot. The Huskies' Quincy Pondexter hit a jumper on their next possession, extending the lead to four points at 60-56 with 3:02 to go. The Cougars still had time to take the lead, but Brockman recorded his only steal of the game with 2:43 to go and UW converted it into a Pondexter layup for a six-point lead with 2:39 to go while sending the  homecourt crowd into a frenzy. Despite two free throws by Klay Thompson at the 2:22 mark to pull back within four points, the Cougars couldn't catch the Huskies as they outscored the Cougs, 5-2 in the final two minutes.

Stat of the Game: Bench points. For the first 39 minutes, just seven players saw the court for the Cougars. Abe Lodwick came in for the final minute with five fouls to give and a potent 3-point shot. The Huskies used 10 players, with none of the players playing more than 36 minutes and just three playing at least 30 minutes. On the other hand, four of the seven Cougs that shared the majority of the minutes played 30 or more minutes, including 40 from Taylor Rochestie and 39 from Aron Baynes. Washington was able to get 26 points from its bench, compared to just six for the Cougars, four from DeAngelo Casto and two from Nikola Koprivica. When it came to the other specialty stats; points off of turnovers, second chance points and fast break points, UW held just slight margins; however when it came to bench points the Huskies held a 20-point advantage.

Play of the Game: Aron Baynes' 1,000th points. With his jumper at the 11:04 mark of the second half, Baynes scored his 12th and 13th points of the game and the 999th and 1,000th of his career. He became the 30th Cougar to reach the 1,000-point plateau and the third to do it in the last two seasons (Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver reached 1,000 points last season). Baynes now has 1,003 points in his career and ranks 29th in the WSU record books for scoring. He is 18 points away from Peter Mullins in 28th and 22 from Brian Wright in 27th.

Thanks for checking out the postgame recap at the Crimson ZZU. We will be back with some updates from the Pac-10 Tournament later this week.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Rochestie's game-winning shot shown here is a nominee for the Pontiac Game Changing Performance.

Thursday, March 5 (5:25 p.m.)

Good Evening!

The Cougars were back on the court for an intense practice Thursday in preparation for Saturday's game. It was the last practice for the Cougs in Pullman before heading to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. The usual things were covered in practice in ball handling and shooting. The 5-on-5 drills were particularly physical with each team being very aggressive. The team worked quite a bit on defense, both transition and halfcourt `D', followed by some work on the offensive end. Practice ended with about 15 minutes of 5-on-5, pitting the red team of starters led by point guard Taylor Rochestie against the next five in white.

One thing of business for today. Taylor Rochestie's game-winning 3-pointer against Arizona State is a Pontiac Game Changing Performance nominee. To read about the nomination, click HERE. Cougar fans can down view clips of the eight nominees and vote by clicking HERE. Voting begins today and ends at midnight on Saturday, March 14th. The winner will be announced on the Selection Sunday show on CBS on March 15.

That does it from snowy Pullman for today.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Wednesday, March 4 (9:15 p.m.)

Hello Cougs!

With just one game this week, the Cougs have pushed their normal schedule back a day as today looked more like a typical Tuesday than a Wednesday. By that I mean not only did the team go harder, but the normal media availability was pushed back to today.

At practice the main focus was on keeping up with Washington's quickness. The Cougs worked on ball handling, dribbling in pressure, and getting back on defense in transition. Of course WSU also worked hard on offense, scoring under UW's pressure.

Speaking of the Huskies and the way they're playing, Coach Bennett had a lot to say about this year's Washington squad in his weekly teleconference. Bennett also spoke about recruiting Klay Thompson, Marcus Capers' defensive matchup this weekend and the Cougars' recent success. Comments from Bennett's teleconference can be read HERE.

The weekly notes are also up online with some new material this week. One of the new notes is that WSU has the second-most overall and conference wins among all 10 Pacific-10 Conference members in the last three years. I also have more photos from the games against Arizona and Arizona State last week thanks to Patricia Locati. The photos can be seen HERE.

Finally, ESPN.com has Kyle Weaver on `Rookie Watch'. You can read all about that by clicking HERE. That's all for today.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Tuesday, March 3 (6 p.m.)

Good Evening!

It's a rainy day on the Palouse and rather quiet on the basketball court. With just one game this week, the team took it easy today. Since there's no practice report, I have some other things to discuss. First off, I'm sure WSU's Pac-10 Tournament seeding is a topic among most of you Cougs out there. Here's the deal. Right now WSU is sixth in the league, a half a game ahead of USC and Oregon State in a tie for seventh at 7-9. Here's a look at the Pac-10 Standings:

1. Washington, 13-4; 22-7
2. UCLA, 11-5; 22-7
3. Arizona State, 10-6; 21-7
California, 10-6; 21-8
5. Arizona, 8-8; 18-11
6. WSU, 8-9; 16-13
7. USC, 7-9; 16-12
Oregon State, 7-9; 13-14
9. Stanford, 5-11; 16-11
10. Oregon, 2-14; 8-20

The Cougars can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth at this point. This week Arizona hosts California Thursday and Stanford Saturday, while USC hosts Oregon on Thursday and Oregon State Saturday. If WSU wins Saturday and Arizona and USC each lose at least one, the Cougs will finish fifth. If Arizona sweeps the Bay Area schools, the Wildcats have clinched the fifth seed. If USC sweeps the Oregon schools, no matter whether or not the Cougars win, the Trojans will move ahead of WSU. WSU holds the tiebreaker over Arizona, USC holds the tiebreaker over WSU, and in a three-way tie, USC would win with Arizona second and WSU third. If WSU falls on Saturday and Oregon State sweeps USC and UCLA, the Cougars would get the eight seed. In the event of a WSU-OSU tie, the Cougars would win. A little complicated I know, but that's where we stand right now.

There's also a lot of postseason talk going on right now. There are a few websites out there that predict the NIT field and have the Cougs in it. The Bracket Project has WSU as a No. 5 seed in the NIT playing in the Michigan Region, facing No. 4 Providence in the first round. You can check out the entire bracket HERE.

On more thing. Following the Cougs' win Saturday, Coach Bennett recorded a podcast for ESPN.com with Andy Katz. You can listen to/download it HERE.

That does it for today. We will be back with more tomorrow.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

Sunday, March 1 (4 p.m.)

Good afternoon!

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's already March and just one week remains in the Pac-10 regular season. The Cougs have a big one to prepare for this week and come into it hot, having won their last three, two of them over ranked opponents. Washington is also on a hot streak as well, so it will be an intense matchup.

I don't have much today, but what I do have is a photo gallery from yesterday's huge overtime upset of No. 14/11 Arizona State. Jacque Garza once again took some wonderful photos, they can be seen HERE. Don't forget you can always read postgame quotes after each home game. If you haven't had the chance, you can read a description of the final play in Taylor Rochestie's own words, as well as what that shot and game meant to him. The quotes can be found HERE.

That's it for today. We'll have more later this week from the Crimson ZZU.

Keep it crimson,
Jessica Schmick

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