Washington State Men's Basketball Hosts Arizona State University

            The Washington State University Men’s Basketball team is having a decent first year under new head coach Ernie Kent. The Cougars are 10-13 (4-7) with seven games remaining, including two games against Top 15 teams.

Washington State baseball preview

2014 saw Washington State Baseball show glimpses of a team we have not seen in this decade under Danny Marbut. The Cougars 24-30 record and specifically their 14-16 finish in the Pac 12 was the best success the team has had in conference play since the 2009-10 season that saw them finish 3^rd in the conference and earned them a spot in the NCAA Regionals.

While the Cougars did show great improvement, especially on the offense side of the ball, 2014-15 brings a fresh set of new faces to the lineup. With the Cougars losing both their top two contact bats in 3^rd Baseman Nick Tanielu and utility player Colin Slaybaugh and leading home run hitter Yale Rosen to graduation the Cougs will need to replace these bats in their lineup.  Both Rosen and Tanielu were named to the Pac-12 All Conference team last year for their efforts. All three players were drafted in last years Major League Basbeall’s first year player draft, Rosen being selected in the 11^th round by the San Diego Padres, Tanielu going in the 14^th to the Houston Astros and Slaybaugh going in the 26^th to the Yankees.

The Cougs are returning three players from their starting lineup from last year, starting 2^nd baseman Ian Sagdal, Outfielder Ben Roberts and Catcher P.J. Jones. All three upperclassmen will be looked at to bring leadership to a team that has not finished better than 7^th in the Pac 12 since 2010. Returning bench players who are expected to make an impact on this year’s team include Tanielu’s replacement at 3^rd base Patrick Mcgrath and Outfielders Wes Leow and Cameron Frost, all of which combined for only about 150 at bats last year.

While the lineup will be filled with new faces this year the Cougars are returning half of their pitching staff from last year. This includes the ace of last year’s staff Joe Pistorese who led the Cougars in innings pitched and complete games last year, and was tied for second in wins. The true strength in this year’s pitching staff will be coming out of the bullpen, with the top three relievers from last year all returning. This includes closer Ian Hamilton who will be returning with his signature blonde curls and team leading 15 saves last year.

The Cougars first series will a non-conference tournament held by Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas starting on February 13^th. The Cougars will play four games in four days against Stephen F. Austin twice (20-35), University of Texas-Arlington (33-26) and Missouri State (26-31). It will be important for the Cougs to start the year better than they did last year, going only 3-7 in their first ten games last year. The Cougs do not have their first home game until February 26^th when they will take on UC Riverside, a team that beat the Cougs last year 12-7 in Riverside, California.

Will this finally be the year the Cougar Baseball team takes that next step and returns back to the top of the Pac-12? Something Cougar fans have not seen since the days of  legendary baseball coach Chuck Brayton who’s career record of 1162–523–8 (.689) and 11 straight conference championships has yet to be matched. Only one thing is clear, this year’s Cougar Baseball team will be one to keep your eye on.

 

Cougars try to salvage road trip at Oregon

The Washington State Cougars men's basketball team is 10-12 and 4-6 in Pac-12 Conference play following its 55-50 loss to the Oregon State Beavers. The Cougars have lost five of their last six games. The team will need to make a quick turnaround as they need to travel a few miles south to Eugene to take on an Oregon Duck team looking for revenge.

Cougars come out ahead against Stanford

After a 76-67 defeat to the California Golden Bears on Thursday, the WSU Cougars fell into a 4-game losing streak where they looked out of sync and inconsistent. Also with one of the top offenses in the Pac-12 in Stanford coming into Pullman, it did not seem like things were going to get better. However, the Cougars showed once again that there is something different about them with Ernie Kent at head coach: resiliency. The erased an early 14-point lead and came back to win a thriller 89-88 over the Stanford Cardinal.

The Cougars were led by their senior guard DaVonte Lacy who had 25 points. Sophomore forward Josh Hawkinson notched another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Cougars also received help from two players who had been struggling of late. Sophomore guard Ike Iroegbu had 14 points and sophomore wing player Que Johnson also had 14 points in his first start of the season.

The Cougars had relied on Ny Redding as a starter in the previous 14 games but Ernie Kent decided to switch up the starting lineup and the change paid off in the end. Redding came off the bench and had six points and three assists. It was truly a team effort in the win. Each member in the starting lineup for the Cougars finished with double digit points.

Stanford was led by the Pac-12 leading scorer Chasson Randle. Randle had 33 points and nine rebounds to lead the Cardinal. Guard Anthony Brown and center Stefan Nastic each added 10 points to the Cardinal's cause. Also, the Cardinal saw the return of their star freshman forward Reid Travis, who had been out since January 2 with a stress fracture in his leg.

The Cougars were in deep trouble early as Stanford was controlling pace of the game often. Half way through the first half, Stanford was up 29-15 over the Cougars. Ike Iroegbu was the only Cougar player playing well at the time. Then the Cougars started driving to the basket. They got Stanford into foul trouble and used the free throw line, good defensive possessions and two explosive dunks from Que Johnson to get back into the game. The Cougars actually led at halftime 41-40.

The second half was truly a back-and forth affair. The Cougars never allowed the Stanford Cardinal to take the lead but they could never push their lead beyond five points until 3:43 left in the game. DaVonte Lacy emerged in the second half and scored 20 of his 25 point in the second half.

Chasson Randle was the one player for the Stanford Cardinal who kept the game close. He made it a five point game with 2:46 remaining. The Cardinal made it interesting late but failed to tie the game as guard Roscoe Allen missed a game-tying floater with 21 seconds left. The Cougars pushed the lead to 87-83 before Nastic made a layup to make it 87-85. Ny Redding sealed the game with two free throws to make it 89-85 which were important too because guard Dorian Pickens made a three at the buzzer to make it 89-88.

The Cougars move to 10-11 and 4-5 in the Pac-12 Conference for the season. They head on the road to face the Oregon schools. The first one will be at Oregon State in Gill Coliseum Thursday, February 5 as the Cougars look to avenge a 62-47 loss in Pullman earlier this season.

Super Bowl Storylines

1. Revis and Sherman at the Super Bowl. First time these two have been mentioned together since their social media beef 2 years ago.
2. Brandon Browner meets his former team after leaving the Seahawks this past offseason.
3. Peter Carroll coaches against his former team. And faces the man who replaced him.
4. The most outspoken team in the NFL (Seahawks) faces the most media reserved and conservative team (Patriots).

Story lines for Super Bowl 49

1) Brandon Browner returning to play against Seattle for the first time since he left the team in the offseason. Along this storyline, Browner said Monday he'd do anything to win the SB including harm Richard Sherman. He was quoted saying, "I'm going to tell my teammates, 'Go hit that elbow, go hit that shoulder,' Try to break it if you can." (Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/26/7916165/super-bowl-xlix-2015-richard-sherman-brandon-browner-break-arm)

2) Tom Brady's legacy. People will always remember he won 3 Super Bowls early in his career, but will they also remember he lost his last 3 chances too? If the Patriots lose, it doesn't mean Brady doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, it just brings into question how people will truly remember him. Pats fans will remember the wins over the losses, but his doubters/haters will focus on the three straight losses (IF they lose). If they win, it will certainly help his case for Greatest QB of All-Time and it will silence people like me bringing up if his "legacy."

3) The NFL vs. Marshawn Lynch. The NFL seems more interested in fining or disciplining Lynch than anything. Now, I'm not a Seahawks fan, so I don't really have a feeling one way or another, but I think the NFL picks on him a little bit. I have changed my stance on making players talk, I still think they should, but fining/forcing a guy to talk is making it more of a spectacle than it should be. As lame of a storyline as I think it is, the NFL and Lynch have a mini back and forth going which is fun to watch as a fan.

475 In-Class: Seahawks Miracle

Seahawks Miracle

As they seem to do time after time, the Seattle Seahawks pulled out another incredible win. No one thought the now defending Champions could play in a more exciting NFC Championship than the game last year against San Francisco, with the deep touchdown to wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, and the tip by Richard Sherman to win the game. Well, we were wrong.

Only this time, the tip came from Green Bay Packers tight end Brandon Bostick when he misplayed the Seahawks last-stitch-effort-onside-kick to go win the game. Seattle recovered the kick and took the lead. And almost identical to last year, Kearse caught a 35 yard game-winning/go-ahead touchdown for the Seahawks. So, after being down, 16-0 at halftime and 16-7 with just over two minutes left, the Seahawks still found a way to win.

Kearse had been beat up all day, with almost every pass that came his way being intercepted. When it mattered most with the game on the line, he came through again. Now the Seahawks move to the Super Bowl to face a New England Patriots squad that unhinged the Indianapolis Colts. Unlike last year, the Seahawks will face a proved Super Bowl quarterback in Tom Brady, who has five Super Bowl appearances (this will be his six) and he’s won every one that wasn’t against the New York Giants.