Friday, February 16, 2018

News for CougGroup 2/16/2018

News for CougGroup 2/16/2018

Three WSU Women’s Basketball Cougar starters reinstated to women's basketball team
Nike McClure, Louise Brown, Caila Hailey will play this weekend

By Dylan Haugh – Cougfan.com

PULLMAN – Three Cougar starters -- Louise Brown, Caila Hailey and Nike McClure – have been reinstated from their suspensions heading into the final road trip of the regular season, interim head coach Mike Daugherty said.

“They’re back (practicing) and they’ll play this weekend -- they won’t start but they will play,” said Daugherty. “I think they understand now that your actions have consequences.”

Brown, Hailey and McClure, along with Krystle McKenzie (medically retired) had been suspended this past Friday after an unspecified violation of team rules. 

The trio missed the games against No. 15 Oregon State and No. 9 Oregon.  Despite the absence of the trio, Washington State (10-16, 3-11 Pac-12)  took OSU to overtime in a 63-61 loss and falling 90-79 to the Ducks. 

Senior guard point guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou said she’s seen a difference in practice from the players since returning.

“They’re definitely a lot more serious in practice,” said Pavlopoulou. “They want to stay focused ... they’re 100 percent focused on the task and I feel like these last few practices have been some of their best.”

Starting point guard Chanelle Molina agreed with Pavlopoulou.

“In practice (Tuesday) I saw it, It was actually one of our best practices of the season,” said Molina. “We were scrimmaging between crimson and gray and we were just going at it. I think from that we learned we’ve got to give it all we got every time we step on the court.”

Washington State plays at Utah (15-10, 6-8) on Friday at 6 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.  The Cougars travel to Colorado (12-13, 3-11) to wrap up the road trip Sunday at (11 am, Pac-12 Network).

WSU and Colorado are tied for ninth place in the conference standings. Only four games remain in the regular season before the start of the Pac-12 tournament.

Head coach June Daugherty has been on medical leave since Jan. 24. Mike Daugherty said after the loss to Oregon State there is no timetable on when she will return. 

Hailey, a senior, had started all 24 games leading up to OSU. She is averaging 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 22 minutes per game.

Brown, a fourth-year junior, has started 23 of the Cougars’ 24 games. She’s averaging 6.3 ppg, leads the Cougs in rebounding (6.3 rpg) and is fifth on the team in 3-pointers with 24.

McClure had seven starts and had played in 24 games before Oregon State. She is second on the team in rebounds per game with 5.5 and is the Cougars’ best rim protector with a team-leading 55 blocks.

McKenzie medically retired last summer. She was voted one of the Cougars’ three captains for the 2016-17 season.

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From WSU Sports Info about
COLORADO AT WASHINGTON STATE  men’s basketball
THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 2018 – 8 P.M. PT– BEASLEY COLISEUM (PULLMAN, WASH.)

FINAL SCORE: WSU 73, COLO 69

POSTGAME NOTES

Sophomore Malachi Flynn had a career-high 30 points…his previous high was 27 against Utah Valley, Nov. 30, 2016.
It marked his second-straight game scoring in double figures and fourth time in the last five games.
Flynn had his sixth 20-point game of the season and eighth of his career, it marked his first 30-point game of his career.
Flynn added 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and for the first time this season he did not have an assist. 
Junior Davante Cooper scored a career-high 8 points…his previous high was 7 done at Oregon in WSU’s last game, Feb. 11.
Cooper had 6 points in the first half and fouled out with 11:08 to play in the game.
Junior Viont’e Daniels tied his career high with 4 assists…he’s accomplished that seven other times, including WSU’s last game at Oregon, Feb. 11.
Daniels added 10 points and 5 rebounds, 1 shy of his career high.
Daniels fouled out with 52 seconds to go, his first career foul out.
Junior Robert Franks returned to the Cougar lineup after missing the Feb. 11 game with a knee injury…he finished with 14 points, 10 of them in the second half.
Franks has scored in double figures in each of the last six games he’s played in.
Sophomore Carter Skaggs did not score for just the fourth time this season and first since Jan. 11 against Stanford.
WSU led at halftime, 30-29, marking its first halftime lead since leading Cal 30-25, Jan. 13…the Cougars are 6-3 when leading at the half this season.
Each of the last three WSU home games against Colorado have been decided by 5 points or less.
The Cougars snapped their seven-game losing streak and three-game losing streak to Colorado.
WSU shot a season-low .241 (7-for-29) from 3-point range…its previous low was .250 (6-for-24) at Washington, Jan. 28.
WSU’s 7 turnovers are its fewest since turning the ball over 7 times against Arizona, Jan. 31, ties for fewest turnovers in a game this season.
Colorado becomes just the second WSU opponent to be held under 70 points in Pac-12 play this season, as California had 53 points, Jan. 13.
The Cougars remain home to take on Utah, Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.

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Flynn takes flight
Standout guard erupts for 30 points as Wazzu takes down visiting Colorado

By Joshua Grissom, Lewiston Trib


PULLMAN — Sophomore point guard Malachi Flynn tallied a career-high 30 points for Washington State in Thursday night’s Pac-12 meeting with Colorado, but the most important one was his last.
With 2,249 spectators at Beasley Coliseum cheering him on, Flynn swished a free throw with five seconds left to put the finishing touches on a 73-69 victory and snap a seven-game losing streak for the Cougars.
“Just stay confident and knock them down,” Flynn said when asked about his pivotal trip to the charity stripe. “First one came off a little long, but I knew the second one was going in.”


The shot completed a second-half rally after Washington State (10-15 overall, 2-11 Pac-12) trailed by eight midway through the period. Flynn scored seven points in the final 1:47 of play, using a combination of short-range jumpers and hard drives to earn several trips to the line. 
“Each game is somebody else’s night, tonight it was mine,” Flynn said. “Robo (Franks) was struggling a little bit, but he didn’t give up. Everybody played a great role, but I just tried to stay aggressive throughout the whole game.”
Flynn’s free throw may have sealed the deal, but Franks provided a pivotal defensive moment when he intercepted a pass in the key with 28 seconds left before the buzzer. The junior forward then earned a foul and sank both attempts from the line to extend his team’s lead to three points.
“Everybody had their moments in the game — mine was late with the steal,” Franks said. “That got us the win.”
Flynn led all scorers with his 30-point effort, but Franks and Viont’e Daniels also sparked the Cougars with 14 and 10 points respectively. Franks hauled down eight rebounds while Daniels dished out four assists.
“I think my teammates helped me get in a rhythm,” Flynn said. “V found me early in the first half, got me going a little bit. They set great screens and I just attacked off them and got good looks.”
Dallas Walton and McKinley Wright led the way for Colorado (15-11 overall, 7-7 Pac-12) with a combined 32 points on the night. Walton often created foul trouble with his physical play in the paint, as the freshman center finished with a perfect 8-of-8 showing from the line.
“He’s an active big that can get a body on you,” Washington State coach Ernie Kent said. “He’s got a great jump hook and we wanted to front him. We went to where we were switching all over the floor, and he would have a little guy on him inside at times. For that amount of points and what we did, I’m happy with that.”
COOPER’S CONTRIBUTION — Junior Davante Cooper recorded a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting before fouling out with 11:08 left to play. Despite starting at forward, Cooper failed to record a single rebound on the night.
“When he’s able to listen, understand, comprehend and do, he’s only going to get better,” Kent said. “I’m happy for him because he’s getting better every trip down the floor.”

SHOOTING WOES — The normally sharpshooting Cougars were held to 24.1 percent from beyond the arc, with marksman Carter Skaggs ending his night with an 0-for-6 performance from 3-point range. Franks also finished 1-of-6 from the perimeter.
“Carter was an 0-for in 29 minutes, I don’t think we’ll see that ever again,” Kent said. “He had just outstanding looks, both of those guys had outstanding looks. I hope we don’t see that again. To their credit, they found another way to win outside of the 3-point shot.”

UP NEXT — Washington State returns to Beasley Coliseum on Saturday  to play host to Utah (16-9 overall, 8-6 Pac-12) in a 7 p.m. matchup.


COLORADO (15-11)
Walton 4-6 8-8 16, King 2-8 4-4 9, M.Wright 5-10 6-7 16, Nikolic 0-4 0-0 0, Bey 3-5 0-0 6, Siewert 2-4 1-1 6, Collier 0-5 4-9 4, N.Wright 4-9 3-6 12, Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 26-35 69.

WASHINGTON ST. (10-15)
Cooper 4-5 0-0 8, Franks 4-12 5-8 14, Flynn 11-19 5-6 30, Skaggs 0-6 0-0 0, Daniels 2-7 4-5 10, Pollard 0-0 0-0 0, Chidom 0-0 0-0 0, Bernstine 2-5 1-2 5, Acquaah 1-3 0-0 3, Shpreyregin 0-2 0-0 0, Hinson 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 25-62 16-23 73.

Halftime—Washington St. 30-29. 3-Point Goals—Colorado 3-18 (Siewert 1-2, N.Wright 1-4, King 1-4, M.Wright 0-2, Collier 0-3, Nikolic 0-3), Washington St. 7-29 (Flynn 3-8, Daniels 2-6, Acquaah 1-1, Franks 1-6, Shpreyregin 0-1, Hinson 0-1, Skaggs 0-6). Fouled Out—Cooper, Daniels, Collier. Rebounds—Colorado 36 (King 11), Washington St. 28 (Franks 8). Assists—Colorado 10 (M.Wright 6), Washington St. 9 (Daniels 4). Total Fouls—Colorado 18, Washington St. 24.

A—2,249 (11,671). 

:::::::::::::::::

Men’s basketball
Slump-breaker: Washington State gets tough in 73-69 Pac-12 win over Colorado

UPDATED: Thu., Feb. 15, 2018, 11:12 p.m.

By Theo Lawson Lewiston Trib

NCAA BASKETBALL
At Beasley Coliseum, Pullman
COUGARS73
BUFFALOES69
BOX SCORE »

Saturday, Feb. 17: Utah Runnin’ Utes at Washington State Cougars, 7 p.m. PT TV: ESPN2
PULLMAN – Throughout Washington State’s prolonged slump, Ernie Kent has begged and pleaded for a tougher, more resilient group of Cougars.

The Cougars finally delivered on their coach’s wish, fighting, scrapping and clawing their way to the finish line in a 73-69 win over the Colorado Buffaloes Thursday night at Beasley Coliseum.

And boy was it a sigh of relief…

“So that’s what that feels like,” Kent said afterward. “Sheesh.”

The victory breaks a seven-game skid and pushes the Cougars into 11th place in the conference standings. WSU had previously lost 15 of its last 18 games – including the last two by a whopping 59 points – but demonstrated urgency and maturity Kent hadn’t seen since the Cougars made their run through the Wooden Legacy tournament.

Toughness, too.

“I’ve said this often that we’ve not made a lot of tough plays,” Kent said. “Well tonight in this game we made multiple tough plays – per possession at times. … Everybody was just alert an involved. Normally we’ve made one tough play and then we’ve broken down. … This is a good sign for this team to just hang in there. I’m really happy for them because they’ve been through a lot.”

Malachi Flynn scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from distance. For a majority of the game, the sophomore point guard was the only offensive bright spot for the Cougars, who lost Davante Cooper to foul trouble with about 11 minutes to go after the junior forward started the game an efficient 4-of-5 from the field with eight points.

Flynn closed strong, jamming 21 of his 30 points into the second half and 16 of those into the final 10 minutes.

“I think my teammates helped me get in a rhythm,” Flynn said. “They found me early in the first half, got me going a little bit. They set great screens and I attacked off of them, got good looks.”

WSU trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, but the Cougars surged ahead in the closing minutes when Viont’e Daniels canned a 3-pointer to make it 63-62. The Buffaloes grabbed a 69-68 lead with 51 seconds left, but Robert Franks, on a slow scoring night by his lofty standards, came up with a crucial defensive play when he picked off Dom Collier’s pass on CU’s final possession. Franks drained two free throws on the other end to seal the victory.

He shot just 4-of-12 from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range, but Franks, who missed Sunday’s game against Oregon with a knee injury, still found his way to 14 points and chipped in three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

“I thought every shot I shot was good. It’s a team game, it’s not an individual game,” Franks said. “I can’t sit there and be a Debbie downer because I’m not making shots. … Everybody had their moments in the game.”

CU lost – and dropped to 1-8 away from home – despite getting 35 tries at the foul line. The Buffaloes made 26 of those, but clanked a few key free throws in the final minutes. WSU was far from perfect from the charity stripe, making just 16-of-23 free throws, and the conference’s top three-point shooting team managed just 7-of-29 from beyond the arc.

For a stretch of the second half, it looked like the Cougars would be doomed by the 24 fouls they wound up committing. Those amounted to plenty of free CU points and disrupted WSU’s pace and flow on the offensive end of the floor.

“The fouls were the fouls, they were there,” Kent said. “They made the game kind of herky jerky, but you didn’t lose your composure. You toughen up at crunch time, you closed out a game and you had tremendous play from your point guard.”

McKinley Wright and Dallas Walton each had 16 points for the Buffaloes. Wright also added seven rebounds and six assists.

The victory vaults the Cougars (10-15, 2-11) to 11th place in the Pac-12 standings. Cal also possesses a 2-11 record, but the Golden Bears represent WSU’s only other conference win, therefore giving the Cougars the head-to-head tiebreaker.

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Twitter makes plain, Leach has one more very big hire to make
New strength & conditioning coach to replace Loscalzo has big shoes to fill

By Dylan Haugh – Cougfan.com

PULLMAN -- Mike Leach's on-field assistant coach hires are complete. But based on Cougar player's tweets, Washington State's head man has one very big hire left to make.

INCYMI yesterday, WSU strength coach Jason Loscalzo, the man Wazzu players and coaches call “Loco,” is leaving Washington State after six years with Leach. 

Four WSU assistant coaches have departed this offseason but in college football, no coach spends as much time with the players over the course of a year as does the strength and conditioning coach.  When the team meeting was called to break the news to the players that Tyler Hilinski had died, Leach wasn't in town so Loscalzo “was kind of the obvious choice” to lead the meeting and “stepped up in a major way,” one person told CF.C last month.

Loscalzo, who oversaw all aspects of the Cougars’ football strength and conditioning program, was both highly respected and well liked, as these tweets illustrate.

Jahad Woods


JWoods
@JW13__
Very thankful to have experienced coach Loco. Lifting weights and conditioning weren’t nearly as important to him as developing us into grown ass men... set a standard here that’ll never go away and also led us through a very difficult time recently.. Much deserved đź’Ż https://twitter.com/cougcenter/status/963951130152665088 …

7:21 PM - Feb 14, 2018
 1 1 Reply   21 21 Retweets   113 113 likes
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Abraham Lucas


Abraham Lucas/BigAbe
@XBigAbeX
Wasnt with him for very long but I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to be coached by someone like coach lascalzo. In June I was a little boy shaking in my boots, now I'm continuing to learn what it means to be a grown man and I'm forever grateful for what he's taught me. https://twitter.com/CougCenter/status/963951130152665088 …

7:42 PM - Feb 14, 2018
 1 1 Reply   6 6 Retweets   56 56 likes
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Travell Harris


Travell Harris
@_THarris1
Smh Smh Smh 🤦🏾‍♂

6:17 PM - Feb 14, 2018 · Pullman, WA
 Replies   Retweets   4 4 likes
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Deone Bucannon, former Cougar safety and Arizona Cardinal ‘backer, also sung Loscalzo's praises:



Deone Bucannon
@deonebucannon20
Nothing but the utmost respect for this man right here ! Learned so much from you ! Much deserved gonna kill it out there đź’Ż https://twitter.com/cougcenter/status/963951130152665088 …

6:59 PM - Feb 14, 2018
 2 2 Replies   4 4 Retweets   152 152 likes
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Bucannon wasn’t the only former Cougar player either.  Teondray Caldwell left the WSU program back in 2014.  But years later, he still holds Loscalzo in high esteem.

“My first year there, we were working outside on the field and I didn’t have any gloves on and it was snowing,’ Caldwell told Cougfan.com. “My hands were numb and I asked Coach Loscalzo if i could please go inside: I don’t think I can finish this workout -- my hands, I’m about to cry. And that’s when he first called me Goldfish. He said, ‘Nah Goldfish, you’re going to have to finish this.’ Right then and there I knew he was the real deal … ‘OK, I like this dude.’”

Strength coaches have gained newfound attention in recent years due to their importance to the overall success of a team – many a head coach has been quoted on how a successful season is first built in the offseason.

Leach completed his on-field coaching staff hires just yesterday, with the last of his 10 assistant coaches coming on board for 2018.

But a final staff hire yet to come, the strength & conditioning post, the “11th assistant,” promises to have a monster impact indeed.

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D was difference, Kent says after win and Flynn’s career night
Cougar sophomore guard scores career-high 30 points

By Dylan Haugh – Cougfan.com

PULLMAN - Something was off with Robert Franks against Colorado. He had two easy lay-ins rim out, the 3-pointers weren’t falling and he missed three free throws. But Franks said he didn’t let a 4 of 12 shooting night take away from the rest of his game. Indeed, he secured Washington State’s 73-69 victory over Colorado with a late play on defense.  And on a night when Malachi Flynn scored a career-high 30 points, it was WSU’s D most of all that led to the win that ended a seven-game losing streak.

Besides Flynn filling up the basket, the two biggest stories on the night for the Cougars: defense and lack of turnovers. 

“I thought our defense made the difference in the game,” said Ernie Kent. “We were outstanding on a night where we did not shoot the ball well, did not shoot free-throws well. But our defense was really, really good.”

Franks’ interception of a cross court pass with 28 seconds remaining led to a late three-point lead for Washington State (10-15, 2-11 Pac-12). It was a huge defensive play in a game full of them.

“First off, I felt like I was never frustrated,” said Franks. “I felt like every shot was good ... I just had to stick with it. It’s a team game, it’s not an individual game. I can’t just sit there and be a Debby Downer because I’m not making shots. Malachi played a big role today.”

Did he ever.

Flynn finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including two circus shots inside the paint over the final two minutes to keep the Cougars one possession ahead.

“I think my teammates helped me get in a rhythm,” said Flynn. “V (Viont’e Daniels) found me early in the first half, that got me going a little bit. They set great screens and I just attacked off of them and got good looks.”

WSU HELD COLORADO to 39 percent shooting from the field and 16 percent from beyond the arc.  The Cougs committed just seven turnovers – they came in averaging 14.1 per game.  Wazzu also tallied eight steals -- Flynn had three -- and five blocks.

A turning point came in the final six minutes of the first half. Up by four points, WSU hit a rut and Colorado used an 8-0 run to take a 29-25 lead. So many times before this season, WSU has been unable to stop the bleeding in similar situations and suddenly found itself trailing by double digits. But the Cougar defense dug their heels in for the final three minutes vs. Colorado, turning in nine-straight stops. At the half, instead of a deficit, WSU held a 30-29 lead.

On a night 3-point specialist Carter Skaggs went scoreless (0-of-6 from deep) he had his best game of the season on defense -- sticking to his rotations, contesting shots and diving on the floor for loose balls.

“I’ve said this often that we’ve not made a lot of tough plays,” Kent said. “Well, tonight in this game, we made multiple tough plays per possession at times. A great example was that last one where we had to stop them three or four times before we dug out the rebound ... everybody was just alert and involved.”

Daniels (6-2, 175) is one of the smaller 2-guards in the Pac-12 but he played like chiseled tree-topper on defense Thursday. Daniels marked Colorado 2-guard George King (6-6, 225) and held him to nine points on 2-of-8 shooting.

“For his body size and having to play a guy as physical as King and some of the bigger guards … he does a good job of neutralizing them because he is very, very composed and he’s very competitive. He doesn’t have a lot of breakdowns on the floor ... he’s not going to beat himself.”

UP NEXT: Saturday vs. Utah (16-9, 8-6) at 7 p.m. in Beasley (TV: ESPN2).

QUOTABLE:
Ernie Kent on what the win means going forward
“This is a good sign for this team to just hang in there. I’m happy, really happy for them because they’ve been through a lot. It’s hard for young people to go through that type of adversity and still hang in there and fight through it. And to their credit, they’ve done that.”

NOTABLE NOTES:
+ Colorado becomes just the second WSU opponent to be held under 70 points in Pac-12 play this season, comprising WSU’s two conference wins (Cal, 53 points).
+ Flynn had his sixth 20-point game of the season and eighth of his career.
+ Junior Davante Cooper scored a career-high 8 points before fouling out.
+ Daniels tied his career high with 4 assists, adding 10 points and 5 rebounds.
+ Franks finished with 14 points, 10 in the second half.
+ WSU’s halftime lead was its first since leading Cal 30-25 on Jan. 13.
+ Each of the last three WSU home games against Colorado have been decided by 5 points or less.
+ The Cougars snapped a three-game losing streak to Colorado.
+ WSU shot a season-low .241 (7-for-29) from 3-point range.
+ WSU’s 7 turnovers tied its mark for fewest turnovers in a game this season (Arizona, Jan. 31).

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Kenmore (Wash.) Inglemoor tight end Quentin Moore picked up his first offer last week.

Nevada jumped on board first for the 6-6, 240-pounder.

More schools have been showing interest in the three-star too.

"Cal, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon and Oregon State mostly," said Moore.

The two in-state schools also have his attention.

"I definitely have interest in Washington and Washington State," said Moore. "I went to the Apple Cup at Husky Stadium."

Moore's season was an up-and-down one for he and his team. While he emerged as a legitimate FBS prospect, Inglemoor scuffled to a 1-9 record.

"We didn't have the best football season but we're working hard to turn it around," said Moore. "I'm going to be doing as many camps as I can to get on the map too."

Moore also plays some defense, but tight end is where his future lies.

"Offense is where my heart is at too," said Moore.

Moore did grow up with one dream school.

"My dream school is Oklahoma State," said Moore. "My dad played there."

Moore's father is former Cowboy safety Mark Moore, who is in the Cowboys' Hall of Honor and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks.

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