Sunday, December 31, 2017

News for CougGroup 12/31/2017

 
Video slideshow by News for CougGroup from WSU at OSU women's basketball Sunday 12/31/2017(11am tipoff) in Corvallis, Oregon. 



Washington State at Oregon State women's basketball Corvallis 12/31/2017. Photo by Tim Marsh/News for CougGroup

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Go to this link to see News for CougGroup video slideshow ...


... WSU at OSU women's basketball Sunday (11 am tipoff) 12/31/2017, Corvallis, Ore.

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WSU’s Hercules Mata’afa to skip senior season to enter NFL Draft
Scroll to last story of this News for CougGroup report ….

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Cold-Shooting Half Spells Trouble for the Cougs at No. 17/17 Oregon State

12/31/2017 Coug Women's Basketball  from WSU Sports Info

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Despite a season-best 17 points out of Chanelle Molina, the Cougars (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12) could not keep a hot start going on the road as No. 17/17 Oregon State (11-2, 2-0 Pac-12) pulled away for a 71-53 victory Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum. For the Cougs, the game was a tale of two halves as an ice-cold second half ended any chance of an upset after taking a two-point lead into the halftime locker room. Trailing by just one midway through the third quarter, WSU went nearly nine minutes of game time without a field goal before Alexys Swedlund, who posted 13 points in the loss, hit a three from the left wing with 5:25 to play in the game. With the Cougs' shots not falling, the Beavers went on a 16-4 run, including 11 points from Marie Gulich, that put Washington State down 57-43 in the waning minutes of the contest. From there, the two sides trade baskets while Oregon State hit its free throws to finish off the contest.
Stat of the Game

The Beavers posted a 56-to-26 rebounding advantage including 21 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points. The 56 rebounds were the most given up by WSU since Georgia Tech grabbed 50 in the semifinals of the WNIT on Mar. 29, 2017.

MORE INFO

    The win for the Beavers was their eighth-straight over the Cougars.
    WSU held the Beavers to just nine first quarter points, the lowest first quarter total for any Pac-12 opponent against the Cougs.
    Chanelle Molina led the Cougs with a season-best 17 points, her fifth double-digit scoring game of the season and first since posting 11 points against Saint Louise on Dec. 4. Alexys Swedlund added 13 points with a trio of threes while Nike McClure tied her season-best with nine points.
    The Beavers put three in double-figures led by Kat Tudor's game-best 27 points including a 7-of-14 showing from deep. Marie Gulich added 22 points and 14 rebounds while Mikayla Piven chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
    As a team, Oregon State ended the game shooting 38.5% (25-of-65) despite shooting just 17.6% (3-of-17) in the first half. The Beavers finished 9-of-25 from deep while the Cougs hit just 5-of-20 three-point attempts.
    The Cougs were without their leading scorer, Borislava Hristova, for the second-straight game due to injury.
    WSU returns home to Beasley Coliseum for the first time in Pac-12 play and the first time in the new year when the Cougs take on Colorado Friday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. Last season, the Cougs and the Buffs met three times with WSU taking 2-of-3 including a 79-78 win in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.
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IN MEN’S BASKETBALL IN LOS ANGLES 6pm tipoff 12/31/2017, WSU lost to USC, 89-71.
Recap:

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ART: Harold Balazs, titanic figure on Northwest art scene, dies at 89

UPDATED: Sun., Dec. 31, 2017, 6:25 p.m.

By Carolyn Lamberson  Spokane S-R

An exhibit of Harold Balazs’ work, “I Did It My Way,” will open at the Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene on Jan. 12. The show will feature more than 130 pieces representing the seven decades of Balazs’ work, including new paintings from 2017. Enamels, paintings, drawings, sculpture and mixed media assemblages will be on display. At 1 p.m. Jan. 13, a panel discussion, “Working With a Master,” will feature Balazs’ friends sharing stories. The gallery is located at 415 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene. For more information, visit www.theartspiritgallery.com.

Harold Balazs, the celebrated Spokane artist whose large-scale sculptures dot public and private spaces throughout the Inland Northwest and beyond, died Saturday night at his Mead home, surrounded by his family.

He was 89.

Blair Williams, whose Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene has represented Balazs for 20 years, confirmed the news Sunday morning.

Balazs’ impact on Spokane cannot be overestimated. Among his public works are the Rotary Fountain at Riverfront Park (made with Bob Perron in 2005), the 1978 Centennial Sculpture floating in the Spokane River near the convention center, and Lantern on the river side of INB Performing Arts Center.

He has pieces on display in Seattle and Cincinnati, and closer to home at the University of Idaho in Moscow and North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene. Listen, a large abstract work meant to evoke an ear, was commissioned for Spokane Public Radio’s new station on North Monroe Street, while Untitled, originally installed at River Park Square, has taken a prominent place in the newly redesigned Chronicle Courtyard behind The Spokesman-Review on Sprague Avenue.

“Harold’s work, over 60 years or more in the region, comprises one of the most significant, far-reaching, and resonate examples of a life lived in dedication to art, aesthetics and the humanities imaginable,” said Ben Mitchell, who curated a Balazs career retrospective at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in 2010. “He is a giant, a titan, and an example to us all.”

Balazs was born in 1928 and grew up Westlake, Ohio. His mother enrolled him in art classes in Cleveland when he was 11 or 12, and according to a WSU Magazine interview in 2014, that’s where he first encountered enamel works by Ohio artist H. Edward Winter. “I was enamored with them,” he told the magazine. “I said, ‘I’m going to do that one day.’ And I did.”

After his family moved to Spokane in the 1940s, he enrolled at Washington State College and earned a fine arts degree. He graduated in 1951 and started selling enameled jewelry in Spokane.

By then he was already a husband and father. He and his wife, Rosemary, had met at Comstock Pool, while he was a student at Washington State; his parents lived nearby. They married in September 1950 and moved to a “$12 a month shack” in Pullman, he said in 2016. Rosemary got a job at a bank and served as his art assistant. Their son, Kurt, was born shortly after graduation.

Soon his work attracted the attention of local architects who embraced a midcentury modern aesthetic starting in the 1950s, and they began incorporating his work in their designs.

In a 2016 interview with The Spokesman-Review, Balazs said he started selling work while still in college.

“A gang of us formed a club and auctioned off our watercolors and drawings to earn a little change. I also did posters for dances and fraternity functions and made jewelry. And I connected with (Spokane home furnishings retailer) Joel Ferris while I was still in college, and he introduced me to buyers in Seattle and Portland.”

That passion to create, he told the paper, never waned. “Never … never. I still have to go out to my shop every day, even if just to walk around in the debris.”

Twins Erica and Andrea were born in 1959, and the family relocated to their 7 acres on Peone Creek near Mead, where Balazs set up shop.

That workshop was famously messy. It also was the kind of place that drew young artists who happily took up Balazs on the offer to come out and make stuff.

“If he liked stuff a young artist was doing, he would invite him up to his studio to work with him. That’s how he became known as ‘Uncle Harold,’” said Sue Bradley, a longtime friend and gallery owner. “He had the ability to make you smarter, more creative, a better version of yourself.

“Harold was such a decent human being, so generous in giving,” she added.

While most well known for his large sculptures, Balazs was prolific in a number of genres. The Lincoln Building in downtown Spokane is home to two large enamels, “Birds of the Northwest” and “Northwest Wildflowers.” Some pen-and-ink drawings were gathered in a limited edition book, “The Family Album,” in 2015.

He also created pieces for dozens of churches, including a large concrete sculpture at Messiah Lutheran Church, and metal pieces for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. At Spokane’s modernist gem, St. Charles Catholic Church, Balazs’ fingerprints are everywhere, from the 17-foot tall welded black metal sculpture of St. Charles Borromeo on the building’s facade to the 12 enamel panels on the entry doors that tell the story of Jesus’ life.

He leaves a body of work on paper that includes charcoal, acrylics, watercolors and ink. In January, the Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene will open its long-planned Balazs exhibit, ‘I Did It My Way,” which will include new paintings.

“Today we work to prepare for the 2018 Harold Balazs show at our gallery,” Williams wrote in a statement. “Today we celebrate again, in the artistry, the craft, the work, the splendor, and the man who created it all. May his memory and his work, live on forever.”

Despite its abstract nature, Balazs’ works remains accessible, Mitchell said, because he was a “democrat – lower case ‘d’ – and a humanist.”

Balazs, he said, learned from his father, a metal worker, an appreciation for a well-made thing. That craftsmanship, combined with genuine emotion, results in works that have impact.

“His work was always approachable and accessible because it was suffused with joy, with discovery, with invention, and without any whiff of artifice, the ‘market,’ or posturing,” Mitchell said.

That notion of joy is evident in one of Balazs’ most endearing and enduring creations: The logo “Transcend the Bullshit,” a modernist-style motto he made into a poster in the 1960s.

“Fifty years later, it’s still my motto,” he told The Spokesman-Review in 2016. “Andy (Dinnison) at Boo Radley’s put my design on coffee mugs, and he keeps sending me money.”

Balazs is survived by his wife and their three children. Services are pending.
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Busy offseason awaits Washington State and it could be a good thing following 25-point Holiday Bowl loss

UPDATED: Sat., Dec. 30, 2017, 9:21 p.m.

By Theo Lawson  S-R of Spokane

SAN DIEGO – For the 20 Washington State seniors who sulked off the field at SDCCU Stadium, a 42-17 loss to Michigan State in hand, the tail end of a once-promising 2017 football season may still be marinating a few months from now.

The Cougars were tantalizingly close to a berth in the Pac-12 championship for the second consecutive year before falling hard in the Apple Cup – also for the second consecutive year – and thus stumbling out of the title game picture.

The Holiday Bowl lined up a second consecutive appearance for WSU. However, the Cougars’ offense found almost no room to work against Michigan State’s tough-minded, high-motored defense. After a respectable showing from Alex Grinch’s defense in 2016 against Minnesota, the “Speed D” played much of this game as if it were stuck in mud.

History books won’t necessarily remember WSU’s senior class for what happened during those three hours in San Diego, but they’ll surely make note of the 29 wins, three bowl appearances and 14 All-Pac-12 selections the group collected over the last four to five years – not to mention some major school and Pac-12 records that were set along the way.

As WSU heads into a busy offseason, here should be plenty of storylines to tide the Cougars over until their next chance to play someone wearing a different jersey.

Of those, the most pressing are the ones regarding the two most important pieces of WSU’s defense: Grinch, the third-year defensive coordinator who’s rumored to leave Pullman soon in order to become the 10th assistant at Ohio State, and Hercules Mata’afa, the consensus All-American defensive tackle weighing the options of taking his talents to the NFL or returning to the Palouse for his senior season.

Thursday’s postgame press conference didn’t provide much clarity regarding either dilemma, but it’s likely that both questions will be answered within the coming weeks.

Leach didn’t budge when asked if he’d met with Mata’afa: “Any conversations I have with him on whether he’s coming back or what he’s doing I will share with him and probably not anybody in here.”

Sophomore safety Jalen Thompson neglected to reveal anything about Grinch: “Next question.”

Within the first month of the New Year, WSU might also have a new face in the office formerly occupied by Bill Moos. The school has set its target date at late January/early February to hire a new athletic director. WSU President Kirk Schulz has oft-cited his wish to hire someone with a strong fundraising background and Moos’ successor should come in prepared to shave off an athletics deficit that was reported at $10.7 million for the 2017 fiscal year alone.

Another priority will be collecting private funds for the expected construction of an indoor practice facility – a project that should welcome a few more developments over the next six months, according to Schulz.

The current Cougars begin their annual “Midnight Maneuvers” conditioning regimen soon. A handful of the departed ones are playing in senior All-Star games – quarterback Luke Falk and offensive tackle Cole Madison in the Reese’s Senior Bowl and running back Jamal Morrow, offensive guard Cody O’Connell and Rush linebacker Frankie Luvu are headed to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Some grouping of those players – plus Mata’afa perhaps – should hear their names called April 26-28 at the 2018 NFL Draft.

At that point, their ex-teammates in Pullman may have already put a bow on spring camp. The spring finale, held annually at Spokane’s Albi Stadium, could be an intriguing showcase between Tyler Hilinski, the quarterback who started for WSU in the Holiday Bowl, and promising four-star signee Cammon Cooper, the top candidate to push Hilinski for starting reps.

All of that should be enough to distract the Cougars from Thursday’s setback in San Diego. As Leach might remind his departing seniors, they would be ill-advised to place the entire season into the context of one game.

WSU finished 9-4 with a 7-0 record in Pullman and signature wins over then-No. 5 USC and No. 18 Stanford. The 21-point comeback victory over Boise State in triple-overtime was entertaining in its own right.

“The one thing that is indisputable is we had a tremendous season. We had a better season than most people expected,” Leach said. “Probably a few games short of what we as a team expected, as coaches, as players, a few games short of what we expected, but it was a good season for us and one where we got plenty of space to improve on.”
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Cougar Football

WSU’s Hercules Mata’afa to skip senior season to enter NFL Draft

Originally published December 31, 2017 at 7:50 pm Updated

December 31, 2017 at 8:24 pm

After completing his best season in college, WSU's Hercules Mata'afa has declared himself eligible for the NFL draft.

By Stefanie Loh  Seattle Times

Washington State defensive tackle Hercules Mata’afa will skip his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, he announced Sunday via Twitter.

“I would like to thank the entire Coug Nation for all the love and support you’ve shown me throughout my four years in college,” Mata’afa tweeted.

 “I’ve had an incredible journey at WSU, and I couldn’t be more grateful to the coaches, teammates, fans, friends, community and family who helped me along the way. I will always be a Coug at heart.”

In a text message to The Seattle Times, WSU football coach Mike Leach said, “I wish him the best no matter what he decides. However, the NFL themselves and numerous people I know in the NFL strongly suggest that he stay in college. I agree that it’s in his best interest to stay in college. In any case, it has been an honor to coach him.”

Mata’afa, a redshirt junior from Lahaina, Hawaii, is coming off his best season as a Cougar. He was a consensus All-American, finished as an All-Pac-12 first team selection and was named the Associated Press’ Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-2, 252-pound defensive tackle set a WSU single-season record with 22.5 tackles for loss, and his 47 career TFLs are the second most in WSU history. He’ll finish his WSU career with 22.5 career sacks — fourth most in WSU history.

As an undersized college defensive tackle, Mata’afa projects best as a rush linebacker at the next level, but he’ll have to show NFL teams that he has the physical ability to play a new position. His “tweener” size could affect his draft standing, but throughout his time at WSU, he’s shown the athleticism, pass-rushing instincts and physicality to get to the quarterback.

In an interview with The Seattle Times earlier this month, WSU defensive line coach Jeff Phelps said he would support Mata’afa if he decided to leave early for the NFL.


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Borislava Hristova ('Bobi Buckets'), Washington State University Cougars women's basketball player, Dec 31, 2018, photo by News for CougGroup.

Borislava Hristova, Washington State University Cougars women's basketball player, Dec 31, 2018, photo by News for CougGroup. Her nickname: "Bobb Buckets."


Saturday, December 30, 2017

News for CougGroup 12/30/2017

PLANNING TO ATTEND A WSU HOME FOOTBALL GAME IN PULLMAN AND MOSCOW IN 2018AND WANT TO STAY AT A PULLMAN OR MOSCOW HOTEL?!

The 2017 WSU football season ended Dec. 28, 2017. Now it’s time to look ahead to the 2018 season. Link to 2018 WSU football schedule:


It’s NOT too early to try to get a reservation at a Pullman or Moscow hotel for a WSU home football game in 2018.

Pullman Chamber of Commerce website provides this URL link at its website. Text for the link reads, “Click here for hotel availability during popular weekends:”


Below is provided for your information, it’s not an advertisement or endorsement. It was posted at the “Die Hard Cougs” Facebook page at 9:45am on 12/28/2017. It may be that other Pullman and Moscow hotels do something similar. To find out if that’s the case, contact the other hotels (the link above names and other hotels, providing their names and telephone numbers).

Courtyards Marriott in Pullman 9:45 12/28/2017 Facebook posting:

“Our call-in date for Washington State University Football home games reservations is Wednesday, January 10th, at 12 pm PST for ALL home games. You MUST call the hotel DIRECTLY at (509) 332-1500.”

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From WSU Sports Info

Men’s Basketball WASHINGTON STATE AT UCLA

FRIDAY, DEC. 29 – 8 P.M.– PAULEY PAVILION (LOS ANGELES, .)
PAC-12 OPENER  
FINAL SCORE: UCLA 96, WSU 82
POSTGAME NOTES
Redshirt freshman, Milan Acquaah had a career high 13 points, 11 of them in the first half.
Acquaah tied his career high for rebounds with 6, he also did it against Saint Joseph’s, Nov. 23.
Sophomore Carter Skaggs had 17 points on 5-for-8 from 3-point range…all his points came in the second half and he attempted just one shot in the first half.
He is 15-for-24 (.625) from 3-point range in the last three games.
Junior Robert Franks led WSU with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Franks has scored in double figures in 11 of WSU’s 13 games this season and has 6 20-point games this season.
Franks made his 18th-straight free throw before missing his third of the night, went 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
Redshirt freshman Arinze Chidom’s 8 points are his most since 14 against Idaho State, Nov. 18.
Sophomore Jeff Pollard scored 12 points, marking his fourth double figure scoring of the season and his career.
Sophomore Malachi Flynn led WSU with 4 assists and added 9 points on 3 3-pointers.
With 14 3-pointers, WSU has made 12 or more 3-pointers in nine of their 13 games.
UCLA’s 96 points are a season high for a WSU opponent this season.
Next up, WSU takes on USC, Sunday, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. at the Galen Center…the game can be seen on ESPN2.
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December 29, 2017 / Men's Basketball  
Cougars Drop Pac-12 Opener to UCLA

Four Cougars scored in double figures in the 96-82 loss.

LOS ANGELES (AP) Aaron Holiday scored a career-high 33 points and Jaylen Hands added 19 points to lead UCLA to a 96-82 victory over Washington State University Friday in the Pac 12 opener for both teams.

Kris Wilkes scored 14 points and Thomas Welsh scored 12 points and had 14 rebounds for the Bruins (10-3).

Robert Franks scored 20 points, Carter Skaggs added 17 and Milan Acquaah and Jeff Pollard scored 13 and 12 points respectively for the Cougars (8-5).

Holiday made 11 of 18 shots, including all five of his 3-point attempts and recorded his 5th 20-point game of the season and guided the Bruins to a third consecutive win.

The junior guard surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in his career when he drilled a 3-pointer at the 7:45 mark of the opening half giving the Bruins a 27-22 lead. Holiday becomes the 55th player in UCLA history to score 1,000 points.

Welsh reached the 1,000-point mark with a free throw with 3:16 left in the game and became the 56th UCLA player to reach the 1,000-point scoring plateau.

Welsh's bucket at the 13:42 mark of the first half gave UCLA a 14-5 lead. The Cougars battled back and cut the lead to 29-28 following an Acquaah free throw with 5:33 to go in the half.

Wilkes' 3-point play down the stretch propelled the Bruins to a 42-37 lead at the break.

Holiday made 9 of 13 shots and scored 23 points in the first half. Wilkes added 8 points for the Bruins. Acquaah led WSU with 11 points in the first half. UCLA held a 23-17 advantage on the glass in the opening half and a 43-30 edge for the game.

Skaggs drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the second half to cut the lead to 64-62 with 9:34 to play. But the Bruins countered by scoring on 6 of the next 7 possessions and took an 80-68 lead following a layup by Hands and sealed the win.

The Bruins have defeated the Cougars in five of their last six contests and have beaten WSU eight straight times at Pauley Pavilion and are 12-1 in Los Angeles against the Cougars since the start of the 2004-05 season. UCLA extended its record to 58-3 against WSU in Los Angeles.

The Bruins are 7-1 this season at home and WSU fell to 3-3 on the road this season.

The Bruins have outrebounded its opponents in 11 of its 13 games this season.

A moment of silence was observed before the game in memory of former UCLA broadcaster Dick Enberg who died last week of a heart attack at his home in La Jolla, California.

BIG PICTURE

WSU: The Cougars lead the Pac 12 in 3's made per game (11.9) and are ranked 4th nationally. Entering Friday's game, WSU made 12 or more 3's in 8 of their 12 games this season. Four Cougars rank in the top 10 of the Pac 12 for 3's made per game (Malachi Flynn is second in the league (2.83 per game), Franks and Viont'e Daniels are 6th in the Pac-12 (2.42) and Skaggs is ninth in the league (2.33).

UCLA: The Bruins improved its record against the Cougars to 107-17. Holiday also became the 13th UCLA player in history to have scored 1,000 points and dish out 300 assists. Holiday now has 1016 points and 356 assists in Bruins career. Welsh has scored 1,001 points and has 819 rebounds in his career, only the 12th player to score 1,000 points and 800 rebounds.

UP NEXT

WSU: The Cougars will travel to USC to play the Trojans on Sunday evening.

UCLA: On New Year's Eve the Bruins will host Washington.

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Cougs Come up Short at No. 10 Oregon
12/29/2017 | Women's Basketball from WSU Sports Info
EUGENE, Ore. - A big run by the No. 10 ranked Oregon Ducks (12-2, 1-0 Pac-12) in the opening quarter set the tone for the Cougars (7-6, 0-1 Pac-12) on the road as Washington State fell 89-56 to open Pac-12 play Friday afternoon. Playing without their top scorer in Borislava Hristova, the Cougs could not match the firepower of the high-octane Ducks who took over the game in the opening minutes with a 14-0 run that put the Cougs down double-digits just four minutes into the game. Despite the best efforts of Louise Brown early and Kayla Washington late, the Cougs could never catch the Ducks as Oregon saw the sophomore stars of Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard combine for 50 of the team's 89 points. Oregon would put the game away for good in the fourth with the Ducks put together a 15-0 run.

Stat of the Game
The Ducks controlled the paint outscoring the Cougs 42-to-28 while winning the rebounding battle 42-to-33.

Things You Need To Know
The Cougs fell in Eugene for the first time in their last three road games against Oregon.
Louis Brown led the Cougs in scoring for the second-time on the year with 12 points while Kayla Washington added 10 points for her third double-digit scoring effort of the season. Washington added seven rebounds, one off of her season best total of eight.
Despite the tough start to the day, the Cougs finished shooting 42.6% (23-of-54).
In 19 minutes off the bench, Nike McClure matched her season-high with five blocks while adding four points and one rebound.
The Ducks matched their scoring average on the season with 89 points on 47.2% (34-of-72) shooting.
Four Oregon players reached double-figures with Ionescu and Hebard each scoring 25 points while Lexi Bando added 18 and Satou Sabally chipped in 14. Hebard closed out the game with a double-double as the sophomore grabbed 10 rebounds while Ionescu came up just shy of another triple-double with eight assists and six rebounds.
WSU looks to get on track in Pac-12 play against the three-time defending champion Beavers from Oregon State Sunday afternoon in Corvallis. The game is scheduled for 11 a.m. The Beavers began conference play with a 75-63 win over Washington Friday afternoon.
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Pullman ranked 8th safest college town
City officials say safety is a collaborative effort

    By Scott Jackson, Moscow Pullman Daily News

The city of Pullman was rated eighth in a list of the 30 safest college towns in America released by home security consultants Safewise earlier this month.

Mayor Glenn Johnson said the news is unsurprising considering Pullman's low crime rate.

"When you take a look at crime problems across the country, I think you can pretty well see that we're one of the safer ones," Johnson said.

Johnson said it's a difficult thing to measure, but the level of safety in Pullman is bolstered from a number of sectors, including emergency medical services, safe transportation services and Washington State University itself.

Johnson said campus cops meet frequently with living groups to keep students informed and safe.

"On campus they're doing a lot of things to make sure that events are safe, and we're trying to do the same thing off campus," Johnson said.

Law enforcement officials said officers are invested in the community because it's their home. Cmdr. Chris Tennant said this connection is a big asset in maintaining a safe community.

"Most of the officers that work here actually live in town or live really near us on the Palouse," Tennant said. "This is our home, and we take ownership in that."

Assistant Fire Chief Ryan Scharnhorst said a rating driven by police and crime data may overlook important contributions by other agencies.

Scharnhorst said Pullman has established a network for automatic mutual aid when call volume becomes overwhelming to provide an added level of security.

"Sometimes we get to three or four calls back to back, and ... we have to rely on outside agencies to come in and assist us," Scharnhorst said.

Scharnhorst said prompt emergency service of all kinds plays a big part in the safety of the community. With round-the-clock paramedic and ambulance services in place, Scharnhorst said residents can expect the same level of care they would receive in a much larger municipality.

Tennant said this level of care is why many residents choose to live in a place like Pullman.

"You don't just end up in Pullman by accident," Tennant said. "There's a reason that people are here and it's for the quality of life, and I think most people strive to keep it that way."

Moscow did not rank on the list.
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MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: One wonky addition to the 'What happened?' theories
    By Dale Grummert /Lewiston Trib Dec 30, 2017

SAN DIEGO - Lost in another darkly humorous Mike Leach news conference the other night was an awkward, ill-received line of questioning that's perhaps more relevant than it initially seemed.

After watching the Cougars sleep-walk to a 42-17 loss to Michigan State in the Holiday Bowl, it entered a reporter's head to tally Leach's record as Washington State football coach in two combined categories: season openers and season finales.

He's 3-9. But so what? The first game of a season and the final game have so little in common that it's difficult to draw any conclusions from that figure.

That was obviously Leach's take.

"You can do all your little stats and scenarios and all those goofy things," he said. "But you can also maybe review how Washington State has done prior to our players and our staff getting here, and maybe you can find some answers there. And you seem like a sharp young man. OK, next."

Given Leach's distaste for coachspeak, that was a disappointing way to snub the fellow. Trying to place a dreadful performance in the context of the arc of one's program is the oldest coach's trope in the book. But maybe this particular question deserved it.

Several minutes later, though, the same writer rephrased the query.

"Coach, you don't think there's been an issue with having more than a week off preparation-wise for you in your tenure here?"

That's a far more interesting way to put it. Which maybe explains Leach's response.

"Next question."

Now we're talking about categories with something in common. Presumably the reporter was referring to season openers, games following a bye and bowl games - all the situations that lie outside the usual weekly routine of preparation.

Leach is 3-13 in those games. Pointing out such a stat may seem goofy to him, so let's toss in some anecdotal evidence. In many of those games, as far as I can remember, the Cougars looked pretty much how they looked Thursday night: disjointed, unfocused, on holiday.

It's difficult to overstate the importance in Leach's philosophy of repetition, routine, a type of heightened mindlessness - maybe not for him and his quarterbacks, but for most of the other players. He wants inspired robots.

You can see this philosophy in his Air Raid offense, in his disdain for distractions (real or imagined), in his automatic rejection of conventional athletic story lines - the personal quests, the rivalries, the Senior Nights, the awards. It's all about the next play.

What happens when you cool your heels for a spell and push that next play forward a week, a month, an entire offseason? Isn't it possible that these discontinuities throw the Leach-era Cougars off their game? They finally won an opener this season, but they're 1-3 in bowl games and 1-5 after an open date.

Here's a caveat: This didn't seem to be a problem for Leach during his decade at Texas Tech. He went 19-10 in games involving a long delay beforehand, though his 4-5 post-bye record wasn't impressive.

And, of course, there were other factors in the Cougars' latest belly flop.

The offense was missing Luke Falk and two disgruntled receivers from Florida. The defense was missing Hercules Mata'afa in the first half, and knew it would probably be jilted soon by wunderkind defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

Falk, Mata'afa, Grinch: three of the most important names in the program at the moment. Throw in all the injured senior leaders, and there's no particular reason to get wonky in explaining the Cougars' somnambulism.

Still, how many previous Cougar coaches have gone 3-13 over a six-year period in games involving drawn-out preparation?

Maybe the "sharp young man" should do the research that Leach suggested.
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Men’s BASKETBALL

UCLA outlasts Washington State in Pac-12 basketball opener

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 29, 2017, 11:17 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R

LOS ANGELES – For the vast majority of Friday’s Pac-12 opener in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Washington State Cougars stuck closely to the victory formula that netted them a few high-quality wins and a tournament trophy in nearby Fullerton almost a month ago.

The Cougars dictated the tempo, they made 3-pointers at a fairly high volume and they were able to draw a couple of impressive showings from the guards on their bench, getting a career- best 13 points from Milan Acquaah and 17 more from Carter Skaggs, who jump-started WSU late with one of his signature three-point flurries.

But on the other end of the floor was an experienced UCLA team with two veteran players who were each hunting the 1,000-point career milestone on the same night. Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh both got there and they did much more than that to deliver a 96-82 win for the Bruins in front of 8,069 fans at Pauley Pavilion.

“Tough place for us to open up with this young of a team against UCLA and USC,” WSU coach Ernie Kent said. “You’re going to have to play them sometime and I thought my guys battled hard for having to be out there. … This is all new to these guys, to understand not only what the conference is like but the tradition of this building and the energy in this building. You can’t prepare that, you have to go through that.”

UCLA didn’t look like a team that was marred, depleted or embarrassed by the international shoplifting incident that took place in Guangzhou, China, at the start of the season and forced the Bruins to move on without three of their young players. And Steve Alford’s bunch, at least on this night, didn’t appear like a team that was missing the trio of 2016-17 stars who were selected in the NBA Draft.

Holiday, Welsh and blue-chip freshman guard Jaylen Hands might be the new trio – and they were an overwhelming one for the Cougars in the late stages of the second half on Friday night.

Holiday, the younger brother of NBA pros Jrue and Justin, scored a career-high 33 points and did the dirty work on the other end, pulling down 11 rebounds. Welsh, the senior forward who’s been a model of consistency for Alford’s program over the years, added 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Hands, the talented rookie who can leap out of the gym at any time, flushed down an alley-oop in the first half and bombed the Cougars from the 3-point line toward the end of the second. He scored 19 points on 4-of-5 from long range.

“They have some McDonald’s All-Americans over there, but Holiday and Welsh were the two main guys,” said Skaggs, who made 5-of-8 3’s to spark the Cougars in the second half. “We just feel like we have to get tougher. We really talked about it. Just like against Kansas State, we lost by three after being down 19.”

This game was a different story.

UCLA led by no more than two possessions for most of the game and the Cougars brought the deficit to two points when Skaggs canned his fourth 3-pointer with 9:38 to play. The Bruins then pulled ahead by seven points, but Malachi Flynn dished an inside pass to Jeff Pollard with 7:16 left to make it a two-score game at 69-64.

But UCLA won the final seven minutes with a combination of toughness and finesse. Hands provided a lift with 11 straight points to make it 80-68 and the Bruins protected their double-digit lead by making 11 free throws in the final 2:48.

“Our kids are consistent, and they listen,” Kent said. “They can score the ball and they’re very coachable. But the main thing we didn’t get better at is toughness. Our guys need to understand that we have to make a tough play when a tough play is needed.”

The Cougars were without “point-forward,” Drick Bernstine, who wore a sweatsuit on the visitor’s bench and missed his second game this season with a tweaked knee.
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Analysis | WSU’s 2017 football season was once again one wild ride. Here’s how the Cougs graded out
Originally published December 30, 2017 at 6:00 am Updated December 29, 2017 at 3:43 pm

This season had highs, and lows, and everything in between. Now that the (disappointing) bowl game is over and the dust has cleared, we look back and evaluated WSU's 2017 football campaign.
By Stefanie Loh
Seattle Times

SAN DIEGO – Despite having a veteran team laden with 20 seniors who all began the season in Washington State’s two-deep, perhaps it was telling that the three players sent out to face the media on Thursday after WSU’s 42-17 Holiday Bowl beatdown against Michigan State were all underclassmen.

Sophomore safety Jalen Thompson, sophomore quarterback Tyler Hilinski and freshman receiver Tay Martin represent the nucleus around which the Cougars will rebuild next season. And thanks to some unforeseen injuries, they all got significant playing time this year, which should help ease the team into 2018.

But first, a look back at 2017.

Due in large part to the presence of the aforementioned senior class led by quarterback Luke Falk, running back Jamal Morrow, offensive lineman Cole Madison, linebackers Isaac Dotson and Peyton Pelluer and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale, 2017 began as the most hyped WSU season since – perhaps – Jason Gesser’s senior year in 2002.

And for while, it appeared as if the Cougars would finally live up to the hype. For the first time in the Mike Leach era, WSU finally won an opener, blanking Montana State 31-0 in a show of dominance.

Slowly but steadily, the Cougars started collecting wins. First came the triple-overtime thrilled against Boise State that first introduced Coug fans to Hilinski’s heroics as the backup quarterback relieved Falk to lead WSU to a 47-44 comeback win. Then came the euphoric home win over a fifth-ranked USC team that caught the nation’s attention and gave Leach his first signature win at WSU. The Cougars went on to beat Oregon for the third year in a row, and peaked at a No. 8 ranking in the lead-up to the Cal game on Oct. 13.

But on a smoky day in the Bay Area, WSU’s world unraveled. The Cougars suffered a 37-3 thrashing at the hands of the Golden Bears and woke up to even more bad news the next day, when athletic director Bill Moos left for Nebraska.

The season was a rollercoaster ride from that point on, with some breathy highs – felling No. 18 Stanford, and Falk leading WSU to a win over Utah in his home state – followed by some exasperating lows.

Unfortunately for the Cougs, history repeated itself at the very end, when a once-promising season came to a numbing end with blowout back-to-back losses to UW and to Michigan State in the Holiday Bowl.

After compiling three-straight seasons with at least eight wins, the Cougars have found consistency under Leach. But that’s a statement that, at this point, appears to be a double-edged sword.
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WSU is now a perennial bowl team. But it has yet to show that it can beat the Huskies or win bowl games on a consistent basis. And that, is why that 10-win marker and conference titles continue to evade the Cougars.

Better luck next year, perhaps?
OFFENSE
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QB

Luke Falk senior season paled in comparison to his first two years as the Cougars’ starter. He threw more interceptions (13), fewer touchdowns (30) and was twice benched for Tyler Hilinski due in part to ineffectiveness, and in part to injury. As the bowl game revealed, Falk played through an injury to his left wrist for most of the season. But how much this affected his overall play is difficult to say. The numbers show that he was less efficient (66.9 completion percentage in 2017, 68.8 career completion percentage entering 2017) this season, and he’ll have some explaining to do when NFL scouts ask about, say, his performance in the Arizona game, when he was replaced by Hilinski. Overall, however, Falk finished his career as the Pac-12’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown and he left an indelible mark on the program.

WSU also got a glimpse of what Hilinski can do. Three games of substantial playing time is still a relatively small sample size. But Hilinski has looked comfortable in the Air Raid, and as he showed in WSU’s comeback against Boise State, he doesn’t cave in high-pressure situations, which is always key to good quarterbacking. Hilinski finished with seven touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 72.6 completion percentage. His athleticism – he had two rushing scores too — will be a nice addition to the offense next season, but he’ll have to work on minimizing turnovers and making better decisions.

Grade: B-

WR

Which outside receivers should we grade here? The two who led the team for most of the year – Tavares Martin Jr. and Isaiah Johnson-Mack – but are no longer around? Or the two – Dezmon Patmon and Tay Martin – who played sparingly but will lead the Cougars’ offense next year?

Martin Jr. and Johnson-Mack were efficient, but Martin Jr., at least, reportedly didn’t mesh well in the locker room. The Cougars did, however, discover some young receiving talent to groom for next season. Martin (31 rec, 366 yards, 6 TD) is a freakishly athletic prospect whose raw ability and work ethic have him poised for a big sophomore year. Patmon (35 rec, 379 yards) came along toward the end of the season, and if he can find consistency, could play a large role in 2018. On the inside, 2017 introduced us to the speedy, entertaining Jamire Calvin (300 yards, 3 TD) and Renard Bell (538 yards, 3 TD), and Kyle Sweet’s (533 yards, 2 TD) veteran leadership was a steadying presence in a young receivers room. The Cougars haven’t had this much talent at receiver in a long time.

Grade: B+

RB

The Cougars couldn’t quite duplicate the success of the run game from their breakout 2016 season. Gerard Wicks struggled with injuries for most of the year, and WSU consequently leaned more heavily on Jamal Morrow, who graduates with the third-most receptions (202) and all-purpose yards (4,219) in school history. James Williams led the offense with 71 receptions, setting a new WSU single season record for receptions by a running back.

WSU’s backs recorded a second-straight season in which they had 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving. But after eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark in seven games last season, the Cougars only had three 100-yard rushing games in 2017, and their 884 rushing yards paled in comparison to the 1,560 from the year before. WSU had 303 rush attempts in 2017, compared to 362 in 2016.

It seems unfair to grade the backs based on what appears to have strategic play-calling decisions beyond their control, but ultimately, the run game was simply not as productive this season. However, some of that was due to the regression of the offensive line.

Grade: B-

OL

There were times this year when the offensive line play was startlingly bad. The game that stands out, of course, was the loss to Cal, when WSU gave up nine – yes, nine! – sacks against a Bears defense that managed only 19 sacks in its other 11 games combined. And while the Cal performance was by far the O-line’s worst of the season, they also gave up five sacks in three other games – UW, USC and Boise State. WSU gave up 44 sacks this season, the highest since Falk has been under center. That ranked 124th among 129 FBS teams. Tackles Cole Madison and Andre Dillard did well on the edges, but the interior of the offensive line was shaky. It’s not a stretch to connect the poor O-line play with the decrease in quarterback and running back production.

Grade: D



DEFENSE

DL

Defensive line was the most-improved position for WSU this season. In Jeff Phelps’ first year at the helm, WSU’s pass rush was the pride of the defense. Hercules Mata’afa had the finest season of his career, setting a new single-season school record with 22.5 TFL, and recording 10.5 sacks. But Mata’afa wasn’t the only defensive lineman who upped his play. Daniel Ekuale had the best season of his career and Nnamdi Oguayo (7 TFL, 4 sacks) will be one to build around for next season.

When you go from 19 sacks one season to 37 the next (No. 20 nationally), you know your defensive line is doing something right. The next challenge for Phelps: How to restock the defensive tackle position, where he’ll lose Ekuale, Garrett McBroom, and – potentially, depending on his decision on the NFL Draft – Mata’afa.

Grade: A

LB

Inside linebackers coach Ken Wilson is a miracle worker. Somehow, despite losing his three senior starting linebackers to a rash of injuries, he managed to help guide some young backers to success. You can’t replace the experience and leadership a fifth-year senior like Peyton Pelluer brings to the table, and there were some games – namely, Arizona – in which Wilson’s youngsters were exposed. But overall, Jahad Woods and Justus Rogers filled in admirably for their elders when called upon to do so. Woods earned 10 starts after Pelluer broke his foot and was lost for the year, and he concluded the season as WSU’s second-leading tackler, with 64 stops, including 11 TFL. Rogers also did fine in relief of Isaac Dotson when the senior suffered a concussion and missed four games in the middle of the season.

At outside linebacker, Roy Manning helped turn Frankie Luvu into a TFL machine after his move from inside to rush linebacker. Luvu’s breakout senior season yielded 6.5 sacks and 12 TFL – second only to Mata’afa in both categories. Hunter Dale put his stamp on the nickelback position and he’s proved to be a smart, athletic player who can drop into coverage as well as he can help stop the run.

Grade: B-

DB

Strong safety Jalen Thompson followed up a strong freshman season with a solid sophomore campaign. He led the defense with 73 tackles and four interceptions and was named an All-Pac-12 second teamer, and an AP All-Pac-12 first teamer. Overall, this group has more depth now than before. Darrien Molton reprised his role as starting cornerback but missed two games with a hand injury. Lucky for WSU, Sean Harper Jr. proved a more than capable fill-in, and he should compete for a starting spot next season, perhaps at the free safety spot vacated by senior Robert Taylor. The emergence of freshman cornerback Marcus Strong – who beat out Marcellus Pippins for the starting right cornerback spot through the season’s final six games also bodes well for 2018. Strong and Harper tied for the team lead with six pass breakups despite not being full-time starters.

Grade: B



SPECIAL TEAMS

How about Erik Powell as a candidate for the most improved player in 2017? The Cougars formerly erratic kicker pulled everything together for his senior year and delivered his finest season in a WSU uniform. For all the problems the Cougars had throughout the season, kicking was never one of them. Powell went 20 of 24 on field goals, converted 46 of 47 PATs, and – more importantly – never missed a field goal when WSU most needed it. He’ll leave WSU third in school history with 51 field goals and 317 points. And was a Lou Groza semifinalist and All-Pac-12 second-teamer. Powell was also reliable on kickoffs, averaging 62.1 yards on 68 kicks, with 31 touchbacks. The biggest glaring problems on special teams were the occasionally inconsistent punting and – toward the latter half of the season as injuries led to attrition – some spotty kick and punt coverage.

Grade: A-
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Story from Eugene Register-Guard about WSU women’s basketball game 12/29/2017 in Eugene ve UO includes:
“….the Cougars (7-6, 0-1), who were without their leading scorer, Borislava Hristova, due to injury.”


Oregon Women's Basketball
Oregon Ducks women’s basketball breezes past Washington State, 89-56

By Ryan Thorburn  Eugene  Register-Guard

Dec 30, 2017

The 18-round Pac-12 fight has begun.

And the Ducks’ all-conference stars were ready for the opening bell.

Ruthy Hebard scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Sabrina Ionescu finished with 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead No. 10 Oregon to an emphatic 89-56 victory over Washington State on Friday at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks (12-2, 1-0) snapped a two-game home losing streak against the Cougars (7-6, 0-1), who were without their leading scorer, Borislava Hristova, due to injury.

“These are our marquee players, our best players,” coach Kelly Graves said at a postgame news conference with Hebard and Ionescu. “The team is looking for them to set the tone, and they did. That’s what they’re supposed to do, and they really stepped up and it did it tonight.

“I think this is a heck of an inside-outside combination. I wouldn’t trade these two for any two in the country.”

Louise Brown scored 12 points and Kayla Washington added 10 points and seven rebounds to lead Washington State.

Hebard was 11-for-14 from the field and Ionescu was 9-for-16, including 5-for-9 behind the three-point arc.

The true sophomores were both all-Pac-12 selections last season before leading Oregon to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time.

“I was really excited to start Pac-12 play of course,” Hebard said. “I just want to get better inside, try to stay on balance and finish more.”

The efficient Ionescu, who has already tied the NCAA career triple-double record with seven, also had three steals and only one turnover in 33 minutes before grabbing a bite to eat on the podium.

“We definitely buckled down and got some stops and ended the game the way we should have,” Ionescu said while enjoying a postgame peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Senior shooting guard Lexi Bando finished with 18 points, three rebounds and two steals, and freshman forward Satou Sabally added 14 points and five steals to complement Hebard and Ionescu.

Sabally had the crowd buzzing with a spinning layup in transition and Bando added three three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Oregon outscored the Cougars 20-8 over the final 10 minutes.

“Satou continues to get better each and every game right in front of our eyes,” Graves said. “She did some stuff tonight she hasn’t done before, five steals. She’s so long for crying out loud. I think she can stand here and touch that ceiling. She’s just learning to anticipate better. …

“I think we all thought Lexi really struggled tonight from the three. She was still 4-for-10. I mean, that’s a great percentage by any standard. When she misses any shot it’s like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’”

Ionescu hit two three-pointers in the final minutes of the third quarter to give the Ducks a 69-48 lead. Hebard had nine points in the frame.

Oregon was 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) from three-point distance in the first half and still enjoyed a comfortable 41-23 lead.

Hebard did most of the damage in the paint, making 8-of-9 shots for 16 points before the break. The sophomore forward made a reverse layup, and Sabally finished an and-one to help counter a surge by the Cougars in the second quarter.

After a three-pointer by Pinelopi Pavlopoulou got the Cougars within 12 points, Ionescu finished a 6-0 spurt for Oregon with a basket just before the intermission.

The Ducks went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter, which was capped with a three-pointer by Bando to make the score 16-3.

Oregon was 9-for-18 from the field in the first 10 minutes. Hebard and Mallory McGwire each scored after grabbing offensive rebounds to give the Ducks a 20-7 lead.

“If we have an off night shooting we have to be able to score and produce in other categories. That’s what we did tonight,” Ionescu said. “Our defense really helped us out in transition to get some baskets, and then down low, they couldn’t stop us.”


No. 10 UO women 89, Washington St. 56

Key statistic: The Ducks had a 42-28 scoring edge in the paint and scored 14 points off 18 offensive rebounds.

Notes: This was Oregon’s largest margin of victory in a conference game since an 85-52 victory over Washington State on Feb. 20, 2003, in Eugene. … Oregon snapped a seven-game losing streak in Pac-12 openers. … Kelly Graves now has 499 career victories. … Oregon’s starters dominated with the bench scoring only three points (two by Mallory McGwire and one by Aina Ayuso).

Up next: The Ducks will host Washington on Sunday (1 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). The Huskies (6-6, 0-1) lost 75-63 at No. 17 Oregon State on Friday.


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