Cougars Head to Pac-10 Tournament

March 10, 2009

     

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COUGARS HEAD TO PAC-10 TOURNAMENT: Seeded seventh, the Washington State University men's basketball team (16-14, 8-10) will head to Los Angeles, Calif. to take on 10th-seeded Oregon (8-22, 2-16) in the first round of the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament, Wednesday, March 11 at 8:30 p.m. at the Staples Center. The entire tournament can be seen live on FSN.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE COUGS:
• WSU closed out its Pac-10 regular season with a 67-60 loss at No. 16/13 Washington, Saturday, March 7 in Seattle.
• Aron Baynes scored the 1,000th points of his career at the 11:01 mark in the second half...he now has 1,003.
• Taylor Rochestie reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season...led the team with 23 points.
• Baynes had his fifth double-double of the season and the eighth of his career with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• Baynes tied his season high with three blocked shots.
• Cougars made their first 3-pointer at the 13:08 mark in the second half...had attempted just four prior to that.
• Daven Harmeling missed the game with a right shoulder sprain suffered in practice.

A BRIEF LOOK AT THE LAST TWO MEETINGS:
• The Cougars defeated Oregon, 74-62, Jan. 17 in Eugene.
• The Cougars went perfect from the free throw line (28-for-28) for the first time since Feb. 1, 2007 (9-for-9)...best free throw performance by the Cougars in school history...previous best was 19-for-19 from the free throw line March 1, 1968 against Oregon...Pacific-10 Conference record, previous best was 22-for-22 (USC vs. Oregon, March 8, 2002)...best performance in NCAA this season.
• Marcus Capers got the first start of his career...played a career-high 31 minutes...previous high was 26 minutes against Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 15). • The Cougars used their fifth starting lineup of the season.
• Taylor Rochestie scored in double figures for the ninth-straight game...hit the 20-point plateau for the second time in a week (21 against Stanford-Jan. 10)...scored a career-high 30 points...previous high was 24 points last year against Oregon State...first Cougar with 30 points since Derrick Low scored 37 Jan. 27, 2007 vs. Oregon.
• Rochestie set a career high with 16 free throws made...went 16-for-16 from free throw line...previous high was nine...Ties school record...Marcus Moore also went 16-for-16 Jan. 12, 2002, against Arizona State.
• Aron Baynes recorded his second-consecutive double-double, the second of the season and the fifth of his career (19 points and 12 rebounds).
• Baynes hit his first career 3-pointer...1-for-3 in his career.
• WSU held Oregon to tie its season-low first-half point total with 17.
• WSU snapped its three-game losing streak with a 67-38 defeat of Oregon, Thursday, Feb. 12 at Friel Court.
• Klay Thompson scored a game-high 25 points, hitting 5-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc.
• Taylor Rochestie added 16 points and five assists while shooting .833 (5-for-6) from the field.
• Aron Baynes added 11 points and nine rebounds.
• Oregon's 38 points are the fewest allowed by WSU in Pac-10 play since holding California to 37 Jan. 14, 1988...third-fewest allowed overall this season...fewest points scored by Oregon this season (previous 52 at Arizona Jan. 8).
• The Cougars made their first five 3-point attempts (three by Thompson, two by Rochestie).
• At the 17:15 mark in the second half Thompson had outscored the Ducks, 17-15.
• Oregon's 15 first-half points are the fewest by a WSU Pac-10 opponent this season...previous was 17 also by Oregon in Eugene (Jan. 17).
• Thompson went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to remain perfect from the charity stripe as a Cougar (24-for-24).
• WSU's 29-point victory is the largest for the Cougars in Pac-10 play this season...second largest overall (largest is 51 vs. MVSU).
• Thompson, Rochestie and Baynes combined for 41 of the Cougars' 67 points.
• The Cougars shot a season-high .692 from 3-point (9-for-13).

COUGARS IN THE PAC-10 TOURNAMENT:
• The Cougars are 4-9 all-time in the Pac-10 Tournament after going 1-1 the past two seasons.
• WSU is 2-1 against Oregon in the tournament and 0-1 as the No. 7 seed.
• More information can be found on page six.

WSU FRESHMEN AMONG TOPS IN PAC-10:
• DeAngelo Casto leads all Pac-10 freshmen in blocks per game with 1.3 and is third overall in the category.
• Klay Thompson is ranked in four different categories in the Pac-10. Below is a look at where he ranks among freshmen and overall in the league.
Klay Thompson
3-point FG Made - 1st-freshmen; 4th-overall (2.2 3pg)
3-point FG Pct. - 2nd-freshmen; 8th-overall (.431)
Scoring - 2nd-freshmen; 20th-overall (13.1 ppg)
Blocked Shots - 3rd-freshmen; 10th-overall (0.6 bgp)

COUG VETS IN RANKINGS TOO:
• Seniors Aron Baynes and Taylor Rochestie also rank in the tops of the Pac-10 in 10 different categories. Below is a look at where they rank.
Aron Baynes
Blocked Shots - 4th (1.2 bpg)
Field Goal Percentage - 5th (.571, 132-for-231)
Rebounding - 5th (7.4 rpg)
Defensive Rebounding - 5th (5.4 drpg)
Taylor Rochestie
Minutes Played - 2nd (37.3 mpg)
Free Throw Percentage - 2nd (.891, 82-for-92)
Assist/Turnover Ratio - 3rd (2.0 a/t ratio)
Assists - 5th (4.7 apg)
3-point Field Goals Made - 7th (2.0 made pg)
Scoring - 18th (13.6 ppg)

COUGS SECOND-MOST WINNINGEST TEAM OVER LAST THREE YEARS:
• Over the last three seasons (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) the Cougars have the second-most overall and conference wins among Pac-10 schools.
• WSU is 68-31 (.687) overall and 32-22 over the last three years.
• UCLA has the best three-year record at 89-17 (.840) overall and 44-10 in league play.
• Below is a look at where the teams rank since 2006-07 (games through Tuesday, March 7):
Overall, Conference
UCLA 89-17 , 44-10
Washington State 68-31 , 32-22
USC 64-36 , 31-23
Stanford 63-33 , 29-25
Washington 59-37, 29-25
Arizona 58-38, 28-26
California 55-42, 23-31
Oregon 55-44, 22-32
Arizona State 51-43, 22-32
Oregon State 30-62, 10-44

GOING THE DISTANCE:
• Taylor Rochestie has played 1,100 minutes in WSU's 30 games this season, averaging 37.3 minutes.
• The senior has played all but 110 of the Cougars' 1,210 possible minutes this season.
• In Pac-10 play Rochestie is averaging 38.8 minutes per game, playing in 698 of a possible 730 minutes.
• Rochestie has played 11 complete games, including two 45-minute overtime games.

BAYNES REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU:
• Senior center Aron Baynes became the 30th player in Washington State history to score 1,000 career points with his basket at the 11-minute mark in the second half at Washington, March 7.
• Heading into the Pac-10 Tournament Baynes has 1,003 points.
• He is the third Cougar to reach 1,000 points in the last two years as Derrick Low and Kylel Weaver reached 1,000 points last season.
• Teammate Taylor Rochestie reached 1,000 points for his college earlier this season, but the first 304 were scored at Tulane.

FRESHMEN MARKING UP RECORD BOOKS:
• Freshman DeAngelo Casto has swatted his way onto the WSU freshman class blocks list.
• Fellow true freshman Klay Thompson is on his way to leaving his mark on a number of categories on the freshman class list.
• Thompson is on the lists for scoring, 3-point shooting, blocks, field goals and rebounding.
• A complete list can be found on page five.

SENIORS, BENNETT DEFEAT ALL NINE PAC-10 FOES:
• With WSU's win over UCLA Saturday, Feb. 21, this year's senior class (Baynes, Forrest, Harmeling, Rochestie) defeated all nine other Pac-10 schools.
• This year's senior class is the 10th Cougar senior class to accomplish the feat and the first since 1989.
• Third-year head coach Tony Bennett has also defeated all nine Pac-10 opponents at least once in his time as head coach at WSU.