Washington State University Athletics
Washington State Cougars - Men's Basketball
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Men's basketball squad to meet Penn in second round of San Juan Shootout.
November 29, 1997
CAGUAS, Puerto Rico - The Washington State men's basketball will look to rebound from its first loss of the season and earn its first victory over Pennsylvania when the two teams meet in the second round of the San Juan Shootout Nov. 29.
The only meeting between the Cougars (2-1) and Quakers (1-2) came during the first round of the 1980 NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette, Ind. The George Raveling-coached Cougars had won seven of their final eight games to earn WSU its first NCAA bid since the 1941 team finished as runners-up to Wisconsin.
The 1980 tournament was the first year the field expanded from 40 teams to 48. WSU was the No. 5 seed was send to the Mideast Regional at Purdue University to face Ivy League champion Penn March 6. Both teams were tied 27-27 at the half before WSU gained a ten-point lead. Don Collins, the 1980 Pac-10 Player of the Year, fouled out with 3:57 to play with 20 points. The Quakers then pulled away to win 62-55.
The Cougars haven't played an Ivy League school since Dec. 29, 1992, when they crushed Pete Carril's Princeton Tigers 72-49 in the opening round of the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic in East Lansing, Mich. WSU converted 12 of 15 3-point attempts while shooting over the Princeton zone defense for a school record 80 percent from long range. Junior guard Eddie Hill set the single-game mark for a Cougar as he nailed all six of his 3-point attempts.
WSU lost to South Florida in overtime 61-59 in the first round of the San Juan Shootout, despite 21 points from leading scorer Rodrigo de la Fuente. The Cougars opened the second half with a 16-2 run and led by 14 to start the fourth quarter, but were outscored 17-3 in the period. WSU got just one point in the first eight minutes, 20 seconds on a free throw by de la Fuente. USF's Scott Johnson hit the game winner with 14 seconds left in overtime.
Washington State Cougars (2-1) - Tentative Starters
Head Coach: Kevin Eastman (175-116 career, 11 years / 51-41 WSU, 4 years)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown Ppg Rpg
21 Carlos Daniel F 6-7 245 SR Louisville, Colo. 12.0 8.0
34 Chris Crosby F 6-7 218 SO Littleton, Colo. 16.3 4.7
41 Steve Slotemaker F 6-9 221 JR Aloha, Ore. 3.0 4.3
14 Rodrigo de la Fuente G 6-6.5 204 SR Madrid, Spain 20.7 7.3
03 Blake Pengelly PG 5-10 163 SO Eugene, Ore. 7.0 2.3
Three Dot Notes - Washington State is 3-2 all-time vs. the Ivy League
(Princeton 2-1, Columbia 1-0, Penn 0-1)..this is Kevin Eastman's first game
as head coach vs. an Ivy League school...the Cougars have started the same
lineup in each of the first three games...senior Rodrigo de la Fuente has
led the Cougars in scoring and senior Carlos Daniel has led the team in
rebounding in all three games...Daniel, who suffered an MCL sprain during
the win at Brigham Young Nov. 19, played 42 minutes of the South Florida game.
