Coach Donnie Marbut on the 2010 Cougars

After a successful 2009 campaign, Washington State head baseball coach Donnie Marbut sat down with Wazzu Sports to talk about the 2010 season.

He shared his expectations and anxiety over the new clubhouse culture that's developed after the Cougars' NCAA tournament appearance last season.

Expectations Fall for Pac-10 Tournament

On a three game losing streak, the WSU men's basketball squad, 16-14, enters the Pac-10 tournament seeded last, a less than satisfying finish to a season in which some prognosticators from ESPN picked the Cougs to finish first.

It was a trying season, filled with highs (Klay Thompson's temporary reign as the country's leading scorer) and lows (Thompson's subsequent slump).

On the women's side, WSU, 8-21, squares-off against last-place Arizona, which bested the Lady Cougars in both their meetings this season, in another play-in game.

The Cougar men play at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Staples Center on FSN, while the women's game, which is not televised, is at 6 p.m. the next day at USC.

Women's Basketball Makes History

The Washington State women found themselves down 15 points early against Oregon, but thanks to an 18-6 run to end the first half and a 13-2 run to open the second half, the Cougars downed the Ducks 67-53, marking the third largest comeback in WSU history.

The WSU defense was a major factor in Friday’s win. The Cougars held the Ducks to 15 second-half points. Oregon averages more than 80 points per game.

"We’ve been denied a lot this year, but they showed they are champions," WSU head coach June Daugherty said of her players.

The Ducks had no answer for the Cougars' back-door attack. Washington State scored 26 of its 67 points inside the paint.

The Cougars improved to 8-20 overall. Washington State, 3-14 in conference, hosts Oregon State in its final home game 2 p.m. Sunday.

Moos Hire Restores Optimism

WSU has named former Oregon athletic director Bill Moos the new AD.

Moss will earn $455,000 annually, which is more than the school president makes.

WSU President Dr. Elson Floyd justified such a high salary saying "it's over the average. I want it to be over the average. We are not an average institution so we don't pay at that level."

"I will never look at the program I'm responsible for as underdogs; we're not underdogs," said Moos at his introductory press conference, echoing Floyd's words. "We're not going to use the term 'Couging it.' We're going to set forth a path that leads to championships."

Koprivica Looks to Cement Legacy

It wasn't long ago that senior Nikola Koprivica couldn't even get into a game without being booed by fans. But under Ken Bone's coaching, Koprivica has blossomed. He leads the Pac-10 in three-point percentage, is fourth on the Cougars in scoring and second in rebounds.

A win tonight would cement Koprivica's legacy. A victory, over the Huskies on senior night, would be Nik's eighty-sixth as a Cougar, tying him with George Hamilton as the winningest WSU basketball player of all time.

Halve-Nots: Cougars Struggle in Second Halves

The Cougar men’s basketball team outscored opponents in the first half this weekend 78-52, yet managed to come home winless. The Cougars were leading Stanford by 15 and Pac-10 leader Cal by 11 at the half, but couldn’t hold on in either game to seal a victory. Both games were close late; Stanford’s Jeremy Green hit a game-winner with 4.6 seconds left to clinch a 60-58 Cardinal victory. Then on Saturday, Cal scored the final 15 points of the game, turning a one-point lead into an 86-70 rout with four minutes remaining.

Dropping both road games was crippling for the Cougars, who now sit 5-8 in conference play. This means Washington State is four games behind conference-leading Cal and in eighth place. With only five league games remaining, it appears the Cougars will need to start playing all 40 minutes, and enter the Pac-10 tournament hot in order to earn an automatic bid, likely their only ticket to the Big Dance.

Lady Cougars Host National Power

On Saturday the Lady Cougars will have their hands full with the No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal. Stanford, 21-1, routed the Cougars 80-43 in January. Game time is set for noon.