It was the Klay Thompson show tonight as America's Team cruised to an 89-70 victory at Friel Court.

In the game against Eastern on Monday, Thompson took a while to warm up and he missed his first seven shots. Unfortunately for tonight's competition, the Mastodons of IPFW, he had no such problems this time around.

After Reggie Moore nailed a 3-pointer to open up the scoring, Klay went on an absolute tear, hitting the Cougars' next 5 baskets and finishing the first half 10-12 from the field with 22 points.

The half-time break did nothing to cool down the smooth-shooting sophomore as he continued to hit everything on his way to a career-high 37 points.

Overall, he was 15-20 from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range, and 5-5 from the free-throw line. Add to that 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot and you've got yourself one heckuva night.

America's Team never trailed in the game and for the most part, were rarely challenged. At one point in the 2nd half, the Mastodons cut the lead to 9, but the Cougs pulled away again and were up by around 20 points the rest of the way.

Reggie Moore checked in with 9 points, and DeAngelo Casto, Nik Koprivica and Xavier Thames all had 7.

Ken Bone cleared the bench again tonight, giving everyone at least a minute of play time and James Watson and Steven Bjornstad both got their first points of their Cougar careers.

Up next for the Cougs is the Great Alaska Shootout which begins on Wednesday. Here's the schedule:

Game 1: Wednesday 8:30pm

WSU vs Alaska-Anchorage- Fox Sports Northwest

Game 2: Friday 6:00pm

WSU vs Nicholls State - Fox Sports Northwest

Game 3: Saturday Time TBD

*Hopefully the Cougs win both games and play in the Championship which will be held at 8pm and will be televised live on Fox College Sports and replayed on Fox Sports NW on Sunday at 11:30am.

Go Cougs!

Tonight, America’s Team will take on IPFW in Game 3 of the non-conference slate. I’ve done some research (there’s a first time for everything) and found out that IPFW stands for Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. How Indiana and Purdue collided and birthed a university in Fort Wayne will have to remain a mystery as my research, and interest, ended quickly after my initial Google search.

Still, here are some fun facts regarding the IPFW squad and their season thus far:

Mascot: The Mastodons

Head Coach: Dana Fife (48-70 4 years)

Record: 1-1 Lost to Wisconsin 75-46 and beat Madonna 86-57 (They beat Madonna like Sean Penn after a night out drinkin’! Yes, timely, I know.)

Starting Five:

G Ben Botts 6-0 165 Jr. 7 ppg

G Nick Daniels 6-2 190 Sr. 8 ppg

G Zach Plackemeier 6-3 190 Jr. 5.5 ppg

F Antwone Snead 6-5 220 Jr. 3 ppg

F Deilvez Yerby 6-6 212 Senior 20 ppg

The Mastodons return four of their five starters from last year’s 13-17 team. Botts was last year’s leading scorer and floor general, Nick Daniels shot an outstanding .470 from beyond the arc last season and Yearby was named the Summit League’s “Sixth Man of the Year”. So, they’ve got some returning talent. Will it be enough to make this a game? We’ll see. Their defensive specialist, Zack Plackemeier, will undoubtedly get the job of guarding Klay Thompson and we’ll find out very quickly if the shorter Mastodon guard can handle the assignment.

Game time is 7pm and there is no television so tune in your radio and listen to Bud Namek or check back here after the game for a report.

And now…for football.

Before I even get started, I want you all to read this article from Cougfan.com. It’s written by former WSU star Paul Sorensen and he goes in to detail, real, painful, uncomfortable detail, about the current state of the football team.

If you’ve been looking for an answer regarding why things seem to have gotten worse as the season has gone on, this article should answer that question for you.

That being said, the Oregon State Beavers come to town on Saturday and they carry with them a #19 ranking and a bit of swagger. They’re currently 3rd in the Pac 10 and if they can win out and Arizona drops one of their last 3 games (likely to happen), they’ll book a ticket to their first Rose Bowl in over 50 years.

The Beavs are playing very good ball right now, winning their last three games by an average of 17 points. They beat Washington last week 48-21, and it really wasn’t even that close, UW got 14 points in the 4th quarter when the game was long decided.

OSU features their star RB Jacquizz Rodgers who has ran for 1148 yards this season and QB Sean Canfield who’s thrown 2566 yards and 17 TDs against only 5 INTs. The Beaver D has been decent, ranking #6 in the Pac-10 in yards per game.

We’ll take a look at the Cougar lineup tomorrow…until then…as usual…

GO COUGS!

The 2nd member of the 2010 class, JC guard Faisel Aden, signed his Letter of Intent and made it official earlier today: He's a Coug.

Ken Bone said of Aden, "He's a 6-4 guard that can really shoot the ball from the perimeter...really good scorer, not just a shooter. He's putting up big numbers right now (at Hillsborough Community College), he's averaging about 30 points per game after like five games. He's the type of guy that could come in and help us next year, whether he would play immediately next year or not, that's for down the road, we'll see what happens."

Aden joins Ephrata star Patrick Simon as next year's incoming players. As noted earlier when Aden gave his verbal commitment, there is only one available scholarship for next season.

Coach Bone has played every member of his roster over the first two games, meaning that no one is redshirting and everyone is fighting for their scholarship from now through the end of the season.

It has been mentioned that Bone is not done recruiting and may pick up another player before the season is over.

In response to reader 0623 and his comments regarding Klay Thompson - it's funny you should post such a comment at this time, as I was writing a post about the element that Klay has added to his game over the summer.

Klay transformed his game over the off-season, and now is finally a game-changer, rather than simply an offensive threat. Ken Bone's work with Thompson has showed immediately - just check out Klay's free throw numbers and his quick burst in to the lane.

Imagine the difficulty of guarding a guy who can not only elevate quickly and get off an accurate shot from anywhere on the floor, but who also has a good first step, can get past you on the dribble and elevate to the rim if you overcommit just a tiny bit.

It spells huge numbers for Klay and huge headaches for opponents. A defender simply has to respect his shot, so watch for a lot of quick moves to the hole this season.

The one part of Klay's offensive game that still is lacking is his passing. He got past his man several times last night only to be met by others, and instead of dishing the ball off, he forced up a shot or was turned around. I'm certain that I'm not the only one who's noticed this and work is being done.

So, 0623, while I agree that based on last year's performance, Klay may have been a bit overhyped, I think that he'll earn every bit of his hype this season. The assertion that he is resting on his laurels while Casto is the only one working on his game is not, as illustrated above, completely accurate. I do agree that Casto has an amazing upside and with more hard work he'll become an elite player in the conference, but the spotlight has room for both him and Klay!

Speaking of those who are out of the spotlight, Abe Lodwick and Nik Koprivica looked great last night. Neither lit up the stat sheet, but both were all over the boards, chasing down balls, diving and disrupting. I love that tenacity on the court. That's Caleb Forrest-like tenacity! Marcus Capers also deserves a tip of the cap as he was assigned to Benny Valentine last night, EWU's leading scorer, and held him to 5 points on 1-7 shooting. Nicely done, Marcus!

Go Cougs!

It was a bit scary, but WSU won their second game of the season 67-61 over Eastern Washington.

Klay Thompson led all scorers with 24 points, DeAngelo Casto had 16 and Reggie Moore collected 15.

The Cougs started out ice-cold and looked completely out of rhythm, and finished in the same way. Fortunately, the time in between was what we've been waiting and hoping to see. The D was suffocating, looking almost as good as the defenses from previous years, and when the ball was in WSU's hands, they scored quickly from inside and outside.

Unfortunately the good times didn't last and just when it looked like the Cougs were going to take their double-digit lead and run away with it, the Eagles crawled back. They hit several 3-pointers and when the Cougar D got overly concerned with the perimeter, they went down low to center Brandon Moore.

Up by only 2 in the final minutes, Klay Thompson nailed and 3 and sealed the game for America's Team.

It's good to see a win, but the Cougar youth and inexperience showed. When Thompson started slow, no one stepped up and when they were up big in the 2nd half, they couldn't put it away.

BUT, it is game 2 of a new season and a completely new regime. Did I really expect them to be perfect right off the bat? Well, kinda. I got excited. But thank goodness for the early nonconference schedule which is filled with some forgiving opponents. Once they reach Gonzaga on December 2nd, some of these issues will hopefully be ironed out.

Next up is IPFW (I can't figure out what that stands for, but I believe it's either a university located somewhere in America or a Union) who will head to Pullman Thursday for a 7pm game. No TV for this one, just the sweet sweet sounds of Bud Namek on the radio.

Go Cougs!

As a person who has a blind allegiance to all things Cougs, a Pollyanna, if you will, I’m at the point where ignoring football discussion after games is becoming a necessity.

Paul Wulff and crew, I love ya, and for that reason, I’m not going to talk about Saturday’s game. I fear saying something hurtful.

I need a couple of days to rebuild my blind optimism. You know what happened, I know what happened, if for some reason you want to re-live it, here’s a recap from somebody else.

Let’s move on to America’s Team!

Tonight at 7pm Ken Bone’s Cougars will take on EWU at Friel Court. Eastern Washington is 0-1 on the season, dropping their season opener to Portland 64-58. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Northwest.

Eastern is led by G Benny Valentine who scored 20 points off the bench in game 1, and by Center Brandon Moore who notched 14 points and six rebounds. Valentine is a transfer from Texas Tech. He’s a lightning-quick 5-7, and will undoubtedly be guarded by Reggie Moore. Brandon Moore is a 6-9 250lb senior who averaged11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds a game last season.

Here are the starting lineups (based on the last game) for each:

Eastern Washington:
G Glen Dean 5-10 170 Freshman
G Kevin Winford 5-11 160 Freshman
G Alden Gibbs 6-3 185 Junior
F Matthew Brunell 6-8 230 Senior
F/C Brandon Moore 6-9 250 Senior

America’s Team:
G Reggie Moore 6-2 180 Freshman
G Klay Thompson 6-6 200 Sophomore
G Marcus Capers 6-4 180 Sophomore
F Abe Lodwick 6-7 200 RS Sophomore
F/C DeAngelo Casto 6-8 231 Sophomore

It should be a pretty good crowd, with plenty of folks heading down from Cheney.

The Cougs are 52-11 all time against Eastern, and Ken Bone is 4-4.

Go Cougs!

Win #1 of the Ken Bone Era!

America's Team kicked off the 2009-2010 season tonight with a big win over Mississippi Valley State, 94-66.

It's the most points WSU has scored in a game since tallying 98 points against Washington on March 1, 2003.

Welcome to Ken Bone basketball.

The Cougs led from wire to wire, jumping out to a 9-0 lead and cruising from there.

4 of the 5 starters scored in double-digits, with Klay Thompson leading the way with 20 points in 27 minutes. DeAngelo Casto had 18 points, and Marcus Capers and Reggie Moore each had 10. The other starter, Abe Lodwick, had 4 points but led the team in rebounds with 9, including 6 on offense.

Bone nearly emptied the bench, giving everyone some play time except for James Watson who is still presumably recovering from a concussion sustained in practice.

Game 2 is Monday night at 7pm against Eastern Washington and will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest.

In soccer news, the WSU women knocked off Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Championships 1-0.

Redshirt junior Mallory Fox scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute, sending the Cougs in to a 2nd round matchup against Maryland on Sunday at 10am.

Oh yeah, and there's a football game tomorrow. The Cougs take on UCLA at 2:00pm at Martin Stadium. The Bruins are 18-point favorites, which is the lowest spread they've seen thus far in their Pac-10 schedule. So...perhaps there's a chance? ESPN Classic did just air the matchup from 1988 where a young Paul Wulff and company knocked off #1 UCLA. I guess it doesn't mean much, but hey, no one thought the Cougs could win that game either!

You can watch the game live on Fox College Sports, but if you don't have that, you can catch the replay on Fox Sport Northwest at 7pm.

Go Cougs!

The most common question from the Cougar Faithful this fall has been, "Is it basketball season yet?"

Good news folks, today is that day.

America's Team opens the 2009-2010 season tonight with a 7pm match-up against Mississippi Valley State at Friel Court.

This is the third straight year that WSU and MVSU play each other, with the Cougs dominating in the previous two matchups, winning by an average of 48 points. The Cougs held the Delta Devils to 26 points two seasons ago and 25 points last year.

This season, the MVSU features a bevy of new players, including 7 transfers and 2 freshman. Their leading returners are 6-7 senior forward Shannon Behling and 6-2 senior guard Julius Cheeks. Behling averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds per game and Cheeks had 9.6 points per game last season.

MVSU has played two exhibition games leading up to this match-up, losing to Wesley College 92-87 and beating Stillman College 100-85. The Cougs handled Lewis-Clark State College in their only exhibition game, 73-51.

Bone has not indicated a lineup, but it likely will be similar to Monday's exhibition matchup that started Reggie Moore, Marcus Capers, Klay Thompson, Abe Lodwick and DeAngelo Casto.

No TV for the game but you can hear Bud Namek on the Cougar Sports Radio Network - in Seattle you'll find it at 1090AM.

Go Cougs!

Today was the first day of the early signing period for the incoming class of college basketball players, and Patrick Simon made it official...he's a Coug.

When he first verbally committed to WSU, he was a 14 year-old freshman at Ephrata High School.

Since then, Simon has developed in to a star, and despite breaking his foot and sitting out his entire junior season, ESPN recruiting analysts say, "few prospects in his size range in the national senior class shoot with the kind of quick release, range and accuracy that Simon does."

Ken Bone said, "He's a very skilled player who has good length to him and is an outstanding shooter with great range."

When Tony Bennett decided to make his move to Virginia, Simon momentarily re-opened his recruitment, but Ken Bone quickly wrangled him back in.

He's now heading in to his senior season at Ephrata, and has been named to the Long Beach Press Telegram's 3rd Team Best of the West.

Welcome Patrick and Go Cougs!

On the football front, UCLA comes to Pullman Saturday, marking the first time in 400 weekends that the Cougs play in front of a home crowd. The Cougs, as usual, will be severely depleted on both ends of the ball due to injuries. Jeff Tuel will practice this week and may play if he can recover in time. If he can’t play at 100%, I’m sure you’ll see Marshall Lobbestael out there on Saturday. On the O-line, Tyson Pencer will be out this week as well, and will be replaced by Steven Ayers.

On the defense, Wulff is hoping that Chima Nwachukwu will return to the lineup after an ankle sprain against Cal, and that Jay Matthews will make it back from a shoulder injury sustained in the first half against Arizona. If neither are available, LB Myron Beck will make the move back again, as he did in the 2nd half of the Arizona game.

The injuries have even crossed over to the Special Teams unit, where kicker Nico Grasu is ailing from a thigh injury. Patrick Rooney is filling in for him.

And what setbacks are UCLA suffering from? Well, aside from Rick Neuheisel (ahahahahahaha), it looks like QB Kevin Prince will make it back for the game Saturday, overcoming the concussion sustained in the UW game. It’s hard to say if it’s a good thing or bad thing, as backup Kevin Craft has performed almost exactly as Prince has. They are both completing 57% of their passes and both have equal TDs-to-INTs (5-5 for Prince, 2-2 for Craft).

Overall, UCLA has been pretty unimpressive this season, ranking 2nd to last in the Pac-10 in yards per game, points per game and rushing yards per game (we won’t mention who’s last). On D things have gone a little better, with the Bruins sitting at #5 in the conference in both yards per game and points per game.

Many Coug fans have been looking forward to this game as a possible upset, both due to the fact that UCLA isn't very good and because WSU has done very well against them of late. The Cougs have won 5 of the past 6 in Pullman and 6 of the past 8 overall.

Finally, just when you think the Ducks did something smart, they go and blow it. LeGarrette “Le Sucker Puncher” Blount was reinstated at Oregon, making for the world’s shortest season-long suspension. Way to go Chip Kelly! You’ve certainly taught everyone a lesson. Unfortunately, that lesson is that winning comes before sportsmanship.

Go Cougs!

In the first and only exhibition game of the preseason, America's Team, as expected, dominated from the tipoff.

WSU scored the first 13 points of the game and never looked back. Klay Thompson led the way with 19 points in a team-high 27 minutes. DeAngelo Casto came away with a double-double, scoring 14 and collecting 11 rebounds. Reggie Moore had 8 assists and 3 steals to go along with 6 points.

Ken Bone started Reggie Moore, Marcus Capers, Klay Thompson, Abe Lodwick and DeAngelo Casto.

First off the bench was Mike Harthun, who added 10 points of his own, hitting 5 of 6 shots in 22 minutes.

As for the other super-frosh, Xavier Thames had 8 points in 15 minutes of action, and Brock Motum had 2 points in 12 minutes.

Here's a detailed article and post from Vince Grippi at the Spokesman-Review.

The first real game is Friday night at 7pm versus Mississippi Valley State.

In soccer news, the Cougs received an at-large bid for the NCAA Championship today. Coach Matt Potter will take his 13-5-2 team across the country to the University of Maryland for the first round where they will play Villanova (11-5-5). This is the 2nd consecutive post-season appearance for the Cougs.

Congratulations Ladies!

Go Cougs!