Tar Heels bring end to Cougs NCAA bid

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best WSU Cougar men’s basketball season in 67 years came to a close Thursday night, as the North Carolina Tar Heels bested the Cougs 68-47.

 

The WSU community is encouraged to welcome the team home about 1:30 p.m. today (Friday) outside Beasley coliseum at the southeast corner near the tunnel. The team flies into Lewiston at 12:30 p.m. and is expected to arrive in Pullman about an hour later.

 

It was a tough game for the Cougs as they started off rattling the Tar Heels with their nationally ranked defense with numerous steals and by controlling the pace of the game. In the end, though, North Carolina’s shooting outdistanced the Cougs, whose shooting was unusually cold, hitting only 32 percent.

 

 

 

 

North Carolina will now enter into the Elite Eight for the second time in as many years.

 

 

Coaches commend one another after game

 

 

 

Even before the WSU basketball team earned a spot in the Sweet Sixteen, the program’s first since 1941, the 2008 team already had earned a historic place in the annals of Cougar basketball history.

 

 

 

Reaching the NCAA Tournament, although an infrequent occurrence during the program’s history, is not unprecedented for the Washington State University men’s basketball program.

 

Reaching it consistently, however, is another matter.

 

 

 

During the 2008 season a banner hung from the ceiling of Beasley Coliseum signifying the NCAA Tournament appearances during the 100-plus year history of the program.

 

Set adjacent to the 1917 National Championship banner, the banner denoted the program’s NCAA Tournament appearances in 1941, 1980, 1983, 1994, and 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What made this regular season very gratifying is to return back to this tournament,” said Coach Tony Bennett. “It does mean a lot because we are trying to build a basketball tradition here. This was a very important year in the building of our program.”

 

Prior to 2007, what each of these appearances had in common is that the following year’s team could not repeat the achievement of its predecessor, that is, another tournament appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

“This isn’t something that happens every year, seeing on the banner how few and far between it’s been here,” said Robbie Cowgill of the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament appearances.

 

Following a 2007 season that culminated in the program’s first NCAA appearance since 1994, head coach Tony Bennett knew the challenge that lied ahead of him and the team heading into the 2008 campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

“At the beginning of this year, a lot of people said are you going to be a one-hit wonder, are you going to just be a flash in the pan,” he said. “It was our strong desire to not be that.”

 

Prior to the Dick and Tony Bennett’s arrival to WSU in 2003, the Cougars had reached the NCAA Tournament just those four times. What each of those instances has in common is that next year’s team was unable to sustain the momentum from the previous year’s success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a 1941 season that saw a Jack Friel led team reach the national championship game, the 1942 Cougars finished 21-8, but lost their final three games of the season to finish third in the Pacific Coast Conference North Division.

 

Under head coach George Raveling, the 1980 Cougars put together a season that culminated in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since the ’41 national runner-up season; however, the 1981 Cougars fell to 10-17 overall and finished last in the Pac-10 in 1981.

 

 

 

 

 

However, Raveling led the1983 Cougars back to the NCAAs, this time reaching the second round, falling to No. 4 Virginia 54-49. Once again, the momentum was stymied the next year, as the ’84 Cougars managed only a 10-18 overall mark.

 

In was not until the early `90s that the Cougars would threatened to reach the NCAAs again. Two years removed from an NIT season in 1992, the 1994 Cougars broke an 11-year NCAA drought. The following season, no NCAA bid was forthcoming; however, the Cougars did earned a NIT bid each of the next two seasons, advancing as far as the quarterfinals in 1995.

 

 

 

 

So when the team earned an NCAA bid in 2007, its first in 13 years, history dictated that a repeat trip in 2008 was not in the works.

 

But that dubious history was made history in itself when the Cougars were selected to the 2008 NCAA Tournament, ensuring that for the first time in program history consecutive appearances to the “Big Dance” would occur.

 

 

Granted, the Cougars’ selection to the 2008 tournament did not come as any surprise, as the Cougars were safely in the 65-team field with a 24-8 record and a third place Pac-10 finish, but that did not lessen the significance of the achievement.

 

“It’s huge; it’s huge for me, this program, and everybody else on this team,” Kyle Weaver said.

 

“It’s definitely something that is special and we’re proud of,” Cowgill said.

 

 

 

 

 

For Bennett, the significance extends far beyond history.

 

“What made this regular season very gratifying is to return back to this tournament,” Bennett continued. “It does mean a lot because we are trying to build a basketball tradition here. This was a very important year in the building of our program.”

 

 

That importance will be signified when, before the 2008-09 season tips off, this addition is placed on the NCAA Tournament banner –2008.

 

“When I come back years from now to be able to see that on the banner, and know I was a part of it, that will be cool,” Weaver said.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all the Cougar coaches and players. It was a magnificent season, a lot of fun, and you did it with class and respect. Go Cougs!