Cougars bury Wildcats with big second half
by Grady Clapp on Feb 26, 2009 10:24 PM PST
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The last time they met in Tucson, it was Washington State surrendering a big lead and getting blown away in the second half by Arizona.
Back at home in Pullman, the Cougars decided to return the favor.
The Cougars (15-13, 7-9 Pac-10) used two runs - a 10-3 one to finish the first half, and a 14-3 to open the second, to put away Arizona (18-10, 8-7), 69-53.
It was a team effort for WSU, with four players scoring in double figures. Taylor Rochestie scored 17, Klay Thompson 16, Caleb Forrest 15, and DeAngelo Casto with 11.
Arizona started the game in impressive fashion, jumping out to a 26-16 lead. They were led by Nic Wise's 15 first half points. Wise was limited in the second half, however, under the defensive pressure of Cougar freshman Marcus Capers. Wise led the Wildcats with 19, but had only 4 points after the intermission. Jordan Hill added 15, and Chase Budinger was limited to 9 for Arizona.
Klay Thompson drained a three with time expiring in the first half to bring the Cougars within three, down 29-26. WSU carried that momentum into the second half and never looked back. Despite occasional signs of live from the Wildcats, the Cougars ran U of A off the floor with a 43-24 second half performance.
The Cougars were ignited by two forwards off the bench. Caleb Forrest, with a perfect nine-for-nine night from the free throw line, and DeAngelo Casto, with a 5 of 6 shooting night and 5 assists.
Player of the Game: This was tough, but I have to give it to DeAngelo Casto. It was a great performance on both ends. Offensively, he missed only one attempt and scored 11 points. He also dished out five (!) assists, tying Taylor Rochestie and only one shy of the game high set by Marcus Capers (6). Casto didn't turn the ball over once and had four rebounds.
Defensively, Casto hung in there against a potential NBA lottery pick in Jordan Hill, and complemented Baynes in the low post.
Unsung Hero: Marcus Capers and Caleb Forrest (tie). Capers didn't score, but threw out six assists and had an exceptional defensive performance against Nic Wise. Forrest was Forrest, with gutsy plays in the lane and 15 huge offensive points. His trips to the line didn't hurt, either.
Play of the Game: For a split second, it looked like Taylor Rochestie had thrown up a runner that was going to miss badly. That was before Aron Baynes caught it for an alley-oop jam that brought the crowd to its feet.
It was over when... Baynes finished the alley-oop.
Stat of the Game: The Cougars as a team had 22 assists on 25 field goals.
The Cougars also notched a 31% offensive rebound percentage, which is incredible against a team with the athletes Arizona has. Of course, when you're playing any zone, you'll have an opportunity on the offensive glass, and the Cougars took full advantage of it.
Just an incredible effort all around, and a huge win for WSU against an Arizona team that was just hitting its stride. You could basically feel the crowd willing the Cougs to a win - a welcome change from the 5 home conference losses the Cougars had posted so far this season.
Equally important was all the hard work in practice finally paying off against the press. The Cougars beat the fullcourt trap, got the ball consistently to the high post, and turned the ball over enough on the defensive end to make up for the 14 turnovers of their own. And WSU was agressive enough to score easy buckets when the press led to a Wildcat defensive breakdown.
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great, great win
I know we occasionally looked slow and a little out of control against the press, but for the most part we handled it well and clearly we practiced breaking the press a lot this week. Capers played outstanding basketball, and a couple of times had the vision to fire the ball down the court to an open Forrest or Casto.
All in all our passing was easily the best I’ve seen this year. There were more than a few lazy passes and turnovers but considering the pressure Arizona was applying EVERY POSSESSION I thought all our guards did well. It was just fun to watch the three man weave come up the court without dribbling, or playing keep away with Casto in the high post. Entire treatises could be written concerning the ultimate weapon known as Forrest-Casto – high post passing, help on full court press beatdowns, taking the ball to the hoop, crashing the boards, pretty much everything. Casto had a great game defensively as well. Just an all around excellent game by the Cougs. I’m sure Arizona’s fatigue had something to do with it but we definitely deserved this win.
Tony Bennett for Heisman!
Sorry Grady... I think you got one thing wrong here...
It was over when… Baynes finished the alley-oop.
It was over way before that play. If this had been Arizona dunking on us that late in the game, I might have called it unclassy, but that was an awesome moment for the Cougars and our fans.
That's probably true
I just don’t remember a play before that when I started relaxing. Honestly, it may have been over beforeBaynes had those 2-3 dunks in a row.
And I still don’t know what on Earth Forrest was doing when he missed that dunk.
Great recap Grady
I didn’t get to watch, listen, or follow the game on gamecast so I appreciate the detail. I really hope someone puts this alley oop on youtube, is it better than the “off the backboard” oop taylor gave Baynes at SC last year?
Would love to DVR that
But don’t have cable right now. Just moved and the building I moved to is a rare spot in seattle that doesn’t have comcast. I have to wait for this new company to install, which won’t be until March 7! They still do the 8-5 appointments! ugh.
by Craig Powers on Feb 27, 2009 9:18 AM PST up reply actions
Well I'm working on getting a tuner to record games
My bf wants one to record his nerdy video games but I want one to record games with so we might be getting one soon. I wish there was an easy way to get them off of the tv…
I loved the offense we ran
You guys who know more about the X’s and O’s of the game can correct/add on to what I have to say. But I loved the offense with capers way up top, rochestie and Klay on the wing, Forrest/Casto above the FT line, and Baynes down low. It may not be that different from what we usually run but it worked really well for a few reasons.
1. It took capers out of shooting range. If he is not going to be shooting, might as well make a defender go out there and make it almost a 4 on 4. He played 1 minute short of his season high, collected 7 boards and 6 assists. He did have 5 TO, but he was the point most of the game against a press.
2. It allowed Taylor, Klay and (sigh) Harmeling to get 3 point looks. If any of them get hot, its good night nurse.
3. It got Caleb some nice jump shots, and it got Casto and Caleb some looks to drive and dunk/draw contact.
4. It did not give Baynes enough looks, but when we kept the ball movement going, eventually it opened up late. Of course, that could have been because the game was all but academic at that point, and because of Hill’s fouls.
It was very interesting that Rochestie only brought the ball up a few times, it was usually Capers and sometime Klay. Thats a big switch from the past, and its nice to know for next year.
Totally agree
Although I must say that I think we ran that offense specifically to break down Arizona’s zone defense, as our motion offense doesn’t work as well against zones.
I don’t know why Arizona never switched it up on us, especially in the 2nd half. They kept double teaming the ball handler which occasionally forced turnovers but mostly led to wide open jump shots. The 2nd half was a complete clinic in passing! The three guards just made it look easy out there, and Casto / Forrest got a lot of open looks because of it. When they doubled the high post, we either kicked it back out to Marcus to keep running down the clock or found Taylor or Klay open on the wings.
An additional benefit to what you mentioned is that it allowed Baynes to save his energy for defense on Hill. Baynes never did anything more than roam side to side in about a ten foot wide x three foot deep rectangle. We tried to get him the ball a couple times but just as often Baynes stood in one spot and just watched. This was pretty much equivalent to forcing Hill into a passive role on defense, which I think opened up more space for the shooters. Baynes did a great job on Hill defensively in the 2nd half, especially in not fouling! Hill will always make some tough shots but if you can keep him off the free throw line you will wear him out eventually.
Tony Bennett for Heisman!
by johnnycougar on Feb 27, 2009 12:05 PM PST up reply actions
I loved the way we played that high post offense with Casto too
Just wait until he starts hitting that 15 footer from the stripe. He’s just too quick for most big men to guard. Huge advantage for us. The game seems to be slowing down for him a bit too, he’s playing under control more than he was earlier in the season. I know it’s a cliche, but I think he makes everyone around him better.
I think Casto gives us a unique situation when Baynes is out. Pendergraph won’t be able to match his quickness and DeAngelo should be able to take him away from the basket. That allows Forrest to roam the baseline where he’s very effective. Casto allows us to spread out the floor and you saw last night we were finally starting to figure out how to set people up for some great looks. For the first time last night, I think I saw where our kids are really starting to ‘get it.’ Tony stuck with the same six kids the whole second half. It was a beautiful display of what we are capable of doing from here on out.
They called a foul on Baynes away from the ball
that completely irritated me. I don’t know if anybody else saw it that way, but that call was completely unwarranted. I reran it about a dozen times and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand the justification.
One other point I’d like to bring up is that Klay Thompson has some serious range. When he’s in rhythm it just doesn’t matter where he shoots from. I’d don’t mind him shooting from anywhere outside the arc as long as he’s not drifting sideways. He’s got a beautiful stroke. I’d like to see Taylor or Capers set him up for a couple extra catch-and-shoots in the next few games.
Yeah if Klay gets his feet set and rises straight up
It’s right down center.
by Craig Powers on Feb 27, 2009 2:46 PM PST up reply actions
that was as good an example of a make up call as I've ever seen
The play previous, Budinger got hacked pretty badly by multiple Cougs going up to the rim and didn’t get the call. I don’t know why it wasn’t a call, I guess maybe they thought Budinger exaggerated the contact (like he usually does). Then not ten seconds (of Russ Pennel screaming) later, Baynes gets a “foul” with no justification. Totally a make up call.
Tony Bennett for Heisman!
by johnnycougar on Feb 27, 2009 2:56 PM PST up reply actions
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