There is only one circumstance under which I will blame the referees for a loss. This was not that circumstance.
However, that was the most inconsistently officiated game I've seen all year, and it cost the Cougs dearly. I'm as frustrated as I have ever been with this conference. How different would this game have been had they called even half of the fouls that have been fouls all year? Washington was allowed to bump and clutch -- and in one instance, simply tackle -- while spending the bulk of the second half in the bonus because of fouls called on WSU.
I don't want this to become a bitchfest thread about the refs. I just really would have liked a fair shake tonight.
As for the rest of it ... well, I'm torn between feeling good and feeling terrible. I'd like to give the boys credit for fighting back. But why do we have to have one half where we play terrible? The transition defense in the first half was inexcusable, but it's been that way all year.
And, once again, we die with Klay Thompson shooting us out of a game. The shots he took late were good ones, but they didn't go down. And that's the bottom line.
I dunno. I'm emotionally spent with this team. In a way, I'm kinda just hoping the end of the season comes soon so that we can go about the business of hitting the weight room and getting better for next year. There's a laundry list of things this team needs to get better at, and it's simply not going to happen between now and the beginning of the Pac-10 tournament.