TUCSON — Tony Bennett let the thought trail off.
“You play on the road in this league, if you don’t come with a defensive mindset that holds you in there,” the Washington State basketball coach said before pausing, then shifting gears.
Maybe because he knew the answer to his rhetorical question?
He had just watched it revealed before 14,598 in the McKale Center, most of whom couldn’t have been happier — or louder — with the result, a 76-64 Arizona thrashing of Washington State.
But it wasn’t just the loss that was eating at the second-year coach. It was the way it happened.
The sixth-ranked Cougars, considered one of the nation’s best defensive teams, were, in Bennett’s words, “thoroughly outplayed,” on the one end of the court he thought he could count on.
“Statistically, we weren’t that far off offensively (from) where we usually are,” he said. “We just could not make them earn anything. We couldn’t get stops.”
Which is starting to become a trend.
Arizona, 3-3 in the Pac-10 and 13-6 overall, had its way with the WSU defense, especially in the second half.
Led by freshman Jerryd Bayless and sophomore Chase Budinger, who combined for 45 points, 26 of them coming after halftime, the Wildcats, leading 34-31 at intermission, hit 11 of 18 second-half shots. They hit 6 of their 9 3-point attempts. They got in the lane often enough to draw 11 WSU fouls and got to the line 17 times — hitting 14.
“Defense was the biggest key for us tonight,” said Aron Baynes, who tied Kyle Weaver for team-high honors with 15 points. “We didn’t come here and play it. That’s why the end result was what it was.”
It’s not like it was a surprise.
When the Pac-10 started, WSU was seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 36.3 percent. In the past five games, teams have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven of the 10 halves. Three times, including the second half of this defeat, it’s been better than 60 percent. Add it up and Pac-10 opponents have shot 49.5 percent against the Cougars.
So the Cougars (16-2, 4-2 and tied with Saturday’s opponent Arizona State for second behind UCLA) spent most of their limited practice time this week on defense, working on staying in their stance, closing out, keeping people in front — all the basics of their pack defensive system.
And yet, “(Arizona) got so many clean looks,” Bennett said. “We worked hard during the week to try to make people play over the top of us, to take contested shots, but there were so many uncontested shots tonight.”
“Something we focus on is trying to make other teams shoot as tough of shots as we can,” said point guard Taylor Rochestie, who had seven assists though only playing 26 minutes due to foul trouble. “Now we’re starting to break down. They’re starting to get some open looks.”
For a while Thursday it didn’t matter all that much. With Daven Harmeling, who made his first start this season, hitting — he had eight points in the first 5 minutes — the Cougars broke fast and led 16-12 with 11 minutes until halftime.
The Harmeling-for-Robbie Cowgill lineup change did what it was designed to do, eliminate WSU’s penchant for poor starts, but “I would rather start slow and finish stronger, they way we have, then start the way we did and finish that way,” Bennett said.
One way WSU has overcome slow starts — the Cougars have now trailed at halftime in seven games, winning five — was with hot shooting by Derrick Low in the second half.
But Low, who missed all five of his first-half shots, wasn’t going to be a factor in this one. Bayless made sure of that.
“He can really shoot it, he’s really explosive and he can get to the lane and make plays,” said Bennett of UA’s freshman, who finished with a game-high 23 points, including 8 of 8 from the line. “But as equally impressive was how intense he was and how physical he was guarding Derrick. He did the job on both ends of the floor.”
Low didn’t take his first second-half shot until the 6:24 mark and WSU trailing 66-50. He missed, something he did until there was only 2:38 left when he nailed a 25-footer. The Cougars’ leading scorer (at 14.4 per game) finished 2 of 9 for five points.
“I just didn’t make shots today,” Low said. “It happens.”
“The few times Derrick did get clean looks, they weren’t even close,” Bennett said. “I have not seen him miss, be that off, in a while.”
Then he paused and changed gears again. Back to what was really bothering him.
“I can almost live with that,” Bennett said, “but it’s hard to stomach the defensive end, where we struggled to make them work for shots.”
Arizona 76, Washington St. 64
FGFTReb
WSUMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTS
Harmeling324-72-21-40213
Baynes346-133-43-60315
Low352-90-00-0415
Rochestie262-52-20-0746
Weaver356-101-21-44315
Koprivica142-41-20-4116
Abercrombie00-00-00-0000
Cowgill140-30-00-2000
Forrest102-20-00-0034
Totals 24-539-128-23161764
Percentages: FG .453, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (Harmeling 3-6, Weaver 2-2, Koprivica 1-2, Low 1-6, Rochestie 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 1 (Weaver). Turnovers: 10 (Weaver 4, Baynes 3, Low 2, Koprivica). Steals: 3 (Weaver 2, Rochestie). Technical Fouls: None.
FGFTReb
ARIZONAMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTS
Budinger386-116-70-54422
Horne40-00-01-2000
Hill372-30-01-10124
Bayless386-128-80-26123
McClellan404-75-60-35214
Johnson71-20-00-1023
Dillon30-00-00-0000
Wise303-51-20-01410
Walters30-00-00-1000
Totals 22-4020-234-27171576
Percentages: FG .550, FT .870. 3-Point Goals: 12-21, .571 (Budinger 4-7, Wise 3-4, Bayless 3-6, Johnson 1-2, McClellan 1-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 8 (Hill 6, Horne, McClellan). Turnovers: 14 (Hill 4, Wise 4, Budinger 3, Bayless 2, McClellan). Steals: 3 (Bayless 2, Budinger). Technical Fouls: None.
Washington St.3133—64
Arizona3442—76
A—14,598.
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