CougCenter - WSU upsets No. 23 UCLA, 73-61Why Washington State? Well that's a stupid question.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47853/fave.png2013-03-07T17:05:26-08:00http://www.cougcenter.com/rss/stream/38395072013-03-07T17:05:26-08:002013-03-07T17:05:26-08:00A last look back at the anatomy of the improbable
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<figcaption>I've just been looking for an excuse to use this picture. | USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>To pull off a win against the odds, some things really have to go right. A bunch of them did for the Cougars last night.</p> <p>The cool thing about upsets is that they are spurred on by some sort of unpredictable occurrence. After all, a predictable result would not be an upset, right?</p>
<p>It's one of the reasons why we watch sports -- the reason why those few hundred students decided it wasn't too much effort to walk 10 minutes to Beasley Coliseum last night, and it's why their faith in the possibilities inherent in any sporting contest was rewarded for one evening.</p>
<p>How odd was last night? Here's a sampling of the out-of-the-ordinary stuff that took place to make last night's win possible.</p>
<p><b>All five WSU starters played more than 30 minutes. </b><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100923/brock-motum">Brock Motum</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123745/royce-woolridge">Royce Woolridge</a> went tip to buzzer, while <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124643/dexter-kernich-drew">Dexter Kernich-Drew</a> played 39 minutes, Will DiIorio played 36 and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/100160/d-j-shelton">D.J. Shelton</a><b> </b>played<b> </b>32. Only two other players saw the floor -- <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/177281/junior-longrus">Junior Longrus</a> (8 minutes) and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/177277/bryce-leavitt">Bryce Leavitt</a> (5 minutes).</p>
<p><b>Those five starters accounted for 60 of WSU's 63 possessions on offense.</b> The other three? Junior with a put-back and Leavitt and Junior each with a turnover. That was it.</p>
<p><b>Just so we're clear: WSU beat UCLA with Kernich-Drew and DiIorio combining for 75 minutes. </b>I just wanted to make sure this is being given the proper amount of attention. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53838/mike-ladd">Mike Ladd</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/146458/davonte-lacy">DaVonte Lacy</a> normally combine to use about 2 out of every 5 possessions, and Motum and Woolridge used about what they normally do. That means the burden fell to Kernich-Drew, DiIorio and Shelton. And WSU beat UCLA that way.</p>
<p><b>The Cougars normally shoot 3s on about 40 percent of their field goal attempts, but last night, WSU shot only 12 -- a paltry 21 percent. </b>They made only three of those 12, missing both attempts in the second half. And they beat UCLA. Soundly.</p>
<p><b>Instead, WSU took a ton of 2s -- 45, to be exact -- and made a stellar 56 percent. </b>WSU was making less than 45 percent of the relatively few 2s they took in Pac-12 play up until that point. Even Shelton, who has made just 36 percent of his twos this year, got in on the action by making 5 of 7. And they weren't even all dunks!</p>
<p><b>The 2-point attempts weren't your garden-variety midrange jumpers, either: WSU scored 44 points in the paint. </b>This might be my favorite tweet I've seen in some time.</p>
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<p>Best tweet of the year. RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/wsumenshoops">wsumenshoops</a>: WSU's shot chart from earlier in the 2nd half. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23GoCougs">#GoCougs</a> <a href="http://t.co/8asgZorC1G" title="http://twitter.com/WSUMensHoops/status/309519047056306176/photo/1">twitter.com/WSUMensHoops/s…</a></p>
— CougCenter (@CougCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/CougCenter/status/309519144808755200">March 7, 2013</a>
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<p><b>When they did miss, the Cougars picked up 62 percent of the available offensive rebounds. </b>For context: Normal for WSU in Pac-12 play is 31 percent, and the previous high this season was 52 percent against Idaho State. UCLA had given up less than 37 percent.</p>
<p><b>UCLA scored just four points in transition all night. </b>I don't know what their average is, but I know it's got to be more than four. Oddly enough, it's incredibly difficult to run when the other team keeps grabbing their own misses and then putting them back in the basket.</p>
<p><b>The Cougars took 11 free throws in the final 5:30. They made nine of them. </b>They also made 14 of 19 overall. WSU normally shoots 68 percent.</p>
<p><b>This last one is a little geeky. </b>When WSU led 7-0 with just three minutes gone, Ken Pomeroy's win probability officially swung the Cougars' way. It never crossed back over to UCLA, and WSU spent the majority of the game above 75 percent, including all but about three minutes of the second half.</p>
<p>That was fun. We should do it more often!</p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-basketball/2013/3/7/4075568/wsu-vs-ucla-statsJeff Nusser2013-03-07T09:54:00-08:002013-03-07T09:54:00-08:00Offensive boards prove to be the difference
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<p>The Cougars' ability to relentlessly play hard finally paid off with a victory.</p> <p>It's no secret that UCLA is a pretty terrible defensive rebounding team; they're last in the Pac-12 in that category by a fairly wide margin. So it made sense that WSU would try and grab a few extra offensive rebounds against the Bruins.</p>
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<div class="pullquote">Bone's ability to motivate a team whose season was lost a while ago is a coaching skill I probably haven't appreciated enough this year.<span></span>
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<p>WSU did a lot more than that last night -- they more or less crashed the offensive glass with reckless abandon against UCLA, and it was the catalyst to the victory. The Cougars picked up more than 6 of every 10 rebound chances on their end of the floor, providing a plethora of extra possessions that led to WSU scoring 18 second-chance points -- almost exactly 25 percent of their total.</p>
<p>If you're wondering just how many offensive rebounds that is, the proportion is about twice as much as the Cougs normally grab, and even as bad as UCLA is at securing defensive rebounds, the Bruins normally allow their opponents to secure less than four out of every 10 offensive rebound opportunities.</p>
<p>The interesting thing to me is that while it appeared to be a coaching directive that led to all those boards, Ken Bone said after the game that it was much more organic than that. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2013/mar/06/quotable-streaks-are-over-wsu/">Via Christian Caple's transcription of Bone's postgame comments</a>:</p>
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<p>"I wouldn’t say it was part of the scout we really hit on. We said, 'guys, we’re undersized and we’ve got to be warriors on the boards.' Get a guy like Will (DiIorio) out there and he has influence on other guys and all of a sudden other guys are just scrapping."</p>
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<p>Given just how big of an outlier last night's performance on the glass was, I'm pretty surprised that this is how it went down -- I've criticized Bone a lot, but I was all prepared to give him a lot of credit for employing a high-variance strategy that paid off. Then again, Bone has seemed to be pretty risk averse over the years (not a unique characteristic among coaches), so it's not shocking that he'd hedge his bets a little against a team that will run at every opportunity it gets. If strategically crashing the offensive glass with the kind of abandon we saw last night doesn't work, you're likely to get your doors blown off under a barrage of transition buckets.</p>
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<b>More</b>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/6/4073724/ucla-bruins-vs-wsu-cougars-basketball-final-score-">Recap of the upset</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/7/4074224/wsu-cougars-ucla-bruins-basketball-washington-state">Reaction from the morning after</a>
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<p>But it did work. Some of the offensive rebounds early on sort of fell into guys' laps, and the team obviously picked up on the opportunity that was in front of them. It also didn't hurt that so many of WSU's shots came around the rim; already in a good spot to pick up a rebound off a miss, the team flashed the kind of desire for loose balls that you might not expect to see from a team that's so short-handed and riding a nine-game losing streak.</p>
<p>While I might not always agree with Bone's strategies or think much of his ability to teach defensive concepts to his teams, it's undeniable that the Cougars have continued to play hard -- <i>really hard -- </i>every night. Bone's ability to motivate a team whose season was lost a while ago is a coaching skill I probably haven't appreciated enough this year.</p>
<p>And for one night, playing hard really was the difference.</p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-basketball/2013/3/7/4074774/wsu-upsets-no-23-ucla-by-crashing-the-glassJeff Nusser2013-03-07T05:00:25-08:002013-03-07T05:00:25-08:00Hot Cougar Action: The day after UCLA
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<p>It's Thursday morning and WSU's 73-61 win against UCLA is still a thing that actually happened.</p> <p>The philosopher Kevin Garnett summed up WSU's win against UCLA when he said, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!"</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">(H/T to <a href="https://twitter.com/NateKelly425" target="_blank">Nate Kelly</a> for texting me that video after the game)</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Garnett may not have been talking about WSU, but what he said proved to be true as WSU did the unthinkable and beat UCLA in Pullman. After a rough season, it's hard not to feel good for the coaching staff and players.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Interestingly enough, the win continues WSU's recent trend of beating ranked teams late in the season without two of their best players. It turns out the football team's Apple Cup victory without Marquess Wilson and Travis Long was precedent.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">With UCLA being UCLA, there was plenty of reaction to Wednesday's upset.</p>
<h4>Men's basketball:</h4>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/07/cougs-home-win-over-ucla-first-since-1993/">Cougs’ home win over UCLA first since 1993 - Spokesman.com - March 7, 2013</a><br>PULLMAN – There were dunks at the end of the losing streaks, both of them toppling in the same instant after Washington State’s most improbable victory of the season.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2013/mar/06/quotable-streaks-are-over-wsu/">Quotable: The streaks are over for WSU - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - March 6, 2013</a><br>FROM PULLMAN — We have additional quotes for you to read from WSU's 73-61 win over UCLA last night. Read on.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sportslink/2013/mar/06/tale-tape-wsu-73-ucla-61/">Tale of the tape: WSU 73, UCLA 61 - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - March 6, 2013</a><br>FROM PULLMAN — The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! OK, not quite. But the Cougars did end their 19-game home losing streak against UCLA with a resounding 73-61 win over the Bruins at Beasley Coliseum tonight, and we have our usual recap for you after the jump. Read on.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bruins-498571-first-state.html">UCLA stunned by Washington State, 73-61 | bruins, first, state - Sports - The Orange County Register</a><br>PULLMAN, WASH. – UCLA's weekend trip through Washington was just supposed to make a quick detour in Pullman on Wednesday to play a Washington State squad that, on paper, the Bruins outmatched in almost every sense of the word.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/ucla/post/_/id/13512/rapid-reaction-washington-state-73-ucla-61">Rapid Reaction: Washington State 73, UCLA 61 - Los Angeles Ucla Blog - ESPN Los Angeles</a><br>How it happened: UCLA (22-8, 12-5) started the game slowly, with low energy and playing without a sense of urgency as the Cougars (12-18, 3-14) raced to a 25-4 lead. The Bruins never really threatened to make a game of it.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/030713aaa.html">Cougars Knock Off No. 23 Bruins, 73-61 - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site</a></p>
<p>PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - No. 23 UCLA rolled into Pullman on Wednesday night as the hottest team in the Pac-12, and the Bruins hadn't lost here since 1993. They rolled out of town as 73-61 losers to last-place Washington State, a defeat that seriously damaged the Bruins' hopes of winning the conference title.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.theolympian.com/2013/03/07/2450777/last-place-wsu-shocks-ucla.html">Last-place WSU shocks UCLA - Washington State University - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington news, weather and sports</a></p>
<p>PULLMAN — The Washington State Cougars carried a nine-game losing streak into Wednesday night’s game with No. 23 UCLA, but that was the least of the Cougars’ problems.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-0307-ucla-washington-state-20130307,0,5297793.story">Bruins are rocky on the road - latimes.com</a></p>
<p>PULLMAN, Wash. -- Thuds don't come much louder than this.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/030713aab.html">Post Game Notes - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site</a></p>
<p>Washington State Notes: Brock Motum led WSU with 20 points...he scored 12 of his points in the first half...he has scored double figures in all 30 of WSU's games this season and in 30-straight games</p>
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<p>WSU Men's Basketball: Ken Bone after UCLA win! March 6 (via <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=kTYrO5jiOXU">WSUCougarAthletics</a>)</p>
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<p>WSU Men's Basketball: Motum, DKD, DiIorio, Woolridge after UCLA win! March 6 (via <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=yjSn_EPOQBg">WSUCougarAthletics</a>)</p>
<h4>Football:</h4>
<p>The football team will hold its pro day today as the outgoing Cougars attempt to work their way into the NFL. Jeff Tuel will be there, as will a number of other seniors. Marquess Wilson will not be <a href="http://www.cougcenter.com/wsu-cougars-football/2013/3/6/4073224/marquess-wilson-pro-day-jeff-tuel" target="_blank">participating for reasons Jeff documented on Wednesday. </a></p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/07/wsu-bars-wilson-from-its-pro-day/">WSU bars Wilson from its pro day - Spokesman.com - March 7, 2013</a><br>The mantra faces its ultimate dilemma here, it seems. How does it go? Once a Coug, always a Coug? What about Marquess Wilson?</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/07/marquess-wilson-not-welcome-at-wsu-pro-day-workout/">Marquess Wilson not welcome at Washington State pro day workout | ProFootballTalk</a><br>Former Washington State wide receiver Marquess Wilson is having problems trying to find a place to hold his pro day workout for NFL scouts.</p>
<h4>Women's basketball:</h4>
<p>The Cougars open play in the Pac-12 Tournament today against Arizona State. The Cougars made a run in the Pac-12 Tournament last year and will attempt a similar run this season. The game is scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. PT and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/06/wsu-women-open-pac-12-tourney-vs-asu/">WSU women open Pac-12 tourney vs. ASU - Spokesman.com - March 6, 2013</a><br>SEATTLE – Washington State surprised the Pac-12 by advancing to the conference’s women’s basketball tournament semifinals last season.</p>
<h4>Baseball:</h4>
<p>After a successful homestand, the Cougars will head back on the road beginning Friday at UTSA. WSU will play seven games on the roadtrip with the last three scheduled against Arizona State. The Cougars played well at home, but this trip will be a huge measuring stick for the season.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/030613aab.html">Cougar Baseball Visits Lone Star State - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site</a><br>After a 7-1 homestand, the Washington State baseball embarks on a seven-game road trip.</p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/7/4074224/wsu-cougars-ucla-bruins-basketball-washington-stateMark Sandritter2013-03-06T20:35:14-08:002013-03-06T20:35:14-08:00WSU breaks streaks, beats UCLA. Holy crap.
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<p>The Cougs broke a nine-game losing streak, and a 19-game home losing streak to the Bruins with a surprising win.</p> <p>The Washington State Cougars broke a 19-game home losing streak to the UCLA Bruins by winning on Wednesday night. WSU took down No. 23 UCLA, and dealt a huge blow to their Pac-12 title hopes, with a 73-61 victory.</p>
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<b>More</b>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bruinsnation.com/">Bruins Nation</a>
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<p>The Cougars came out fast, building a 21-point lead in the first half on the back of a dominating defensive performance. Ken Bone made a game plan tonight to exploit the Bruins' biggest weakness, and it paid huge dividends on both ends of the floor. WSU had no business being in this game without DaVonte Lacy and Mike Ladd, but there they were with a double-digit lead for most of the second half.</p>
<p>After UCLA cut the lead down to 11 at halftime, and six at one point in the second half, WSU responded by building its advantage back up to 14. The lead remained at 11 with less than three minutes to play, and all the Cougars had to do was hold on for their first home win over the Bruins since 1993.</p>
<p>Brock Motum and Dexter Kernich-Drew both posted double-doubles. Motum had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while DKD finished with 11 and 11. Royce Woolridge joined Motum in playing all 40 minutes. He came up with huge baskets all night to stop UCLA runs, and ended up with 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists.</p>
<p>D.J. Shelton actually made a bunch of shots in the paint on the way to a 13-point, six-board, four-assist night at Friel Court.</p>
<p>They held on. Still can't believe it. And it was a dunk fest at the end. Go. Freaking. Cougs.</p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/6/4073724/ucla-bruins-vs-wsu-cougars-basketball-final-score-Craig Powers2013-03-06T15:09:35-08:002013-03-06T15:09:35-08:00Cougs-Bruins commiseration thread
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<figcaption>Stephen Dunn</figcaption>
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<p>The Cougars host their penultimate regular-season game on Wednesday. Can they finally end a pair of long losing streaks? The game tips at 6:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks.</p> <p></p>
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<h3>Next Game</h3>
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<p class="game-title"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/ucla-bruins">UCLA Bruins</a> <br><span class="blog_link">@ <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/washington-st-cougars">Washington St. Cougars</a> </span></p>
<p class="game-info"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/events/109903">Wednesday, Mar 6, 2013, 6:30 PM PST</a><br> Friel Court</p>
<p class="foot clearfix"><span class="link-more"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/events/109903">Complete Coverage ></a></span></p>
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<p><br id="1362610771318"> The Washington State Cougars host UCLA on Wednesday night, and they'll be looking to play spoiler to the Bruins' Pac-12 title hopes. No. 23 UCLA is currently tied at the top of the standings with Oregon, but the Ducks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.</p>
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<div class="read-more">
<strong>More</strong>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/6/4069700/2013-cougcenter-podcast-episode-9">CougCenter podcast endorses court-rushing</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/5/4042878/2013-pac-12-tournament-schedule-las-vegas-wsu-cougars">Las Vegas Pac- 12 tourney travel guide</a>
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<p>WSU is currently riding a nine-game losing streak this season, and they've lost 19-straight to the Bruins in Pullman. Even in the better years, UCLA has continued to dominate at Beasley Coliseum. </p>
<p>UCLA's weaknesses aren't exactly the type that the Cougars can exploit. The Bruins have been the worst defensive rebounding team in conference play, but WSU has been ninth in offensive rebounding. UCLA rarely gets offensive rebounds themselves, but that is the one thing that WSU tends to limit. The Bruins won't suffer much if the Cougars can keep them off the glass. </p>
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<p>The Cougars are giving up a full tenth of a point per possession more on defense than the Pac-12 average in league play. Over the course of their typical 63-possession, the Cougs are giving teams six extra points. Considering WSU's average margin in conference play has been negative-5.375, that six points is kind of important.</p>
<p>So basically, to tell you something you already knew: The defense has been downright awful.</p>
<p>With that in mind, join the discussion in the comments below. No illegal stream links!</p>
https://www.cougcenter.com/2013/3/6/4072576/ucla-bruins-wsu-cougars-basketball-game-time-tv-scheduleCraig Powers