A defining win for Bennett Ball

Defensive principles instilled by Dick and Tony Bennett have led to unprecedented success for WSU, including win over Notre Dame

By Josh Wright
Monday, March 24, 2008
Call it sleep-inducing. Call it crawl ball. Call it whatever you like.
No matter how monotonous Washington State's slow-down style may seem, the Cougars have flourished the last two years by holding tight to an unwavering system. Never has that been more evident than Saturday night at Denver's Pepsi Center.
WSU disrupted Notre Dame's free-flowing offense with clinical efficiency, holding the Irish to half their average output in a 61-41 beatdown in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Cougs, 26-8 and ranked No. 21 in the nation, have garnered an unprecedented bounty of success behind the defensive principles Dick and Tony Bennett brought to Pullman five years ago. They've bagged a school-record 52 wins in two seasons, finished in the top three of the Pac-10 in back-to-back years and made consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time.
And Saturday, they became the only team in program history to crack the round of 16 in the NCAAs. They'll square off with top-ranked North Carolina on Thursday in the Eastern Regional semifinals in Charlotte, N.C.
What makes WSU's philosophy so effective?
For one thing, the Bennetts convinced a cast of unheralded recruits - Kyle Weaver, Robbie Cowgill, Daven Harmeling, etc. - that the program could be resurrected if they followed their simple but proven tactics. The Cougs rarely push the ball up the court, and they almost always stick to prickly man-to-man defense. It isn't a glamorous method, but it works.
"Honestly, Dick and Tony just deserve all the credit for ... bringing us in here when nobody else wanted to recruit any of us," said Harmeling, a redshirt junior forward. "We bought into their thing. I feel so good for Dick and Tony. It's unbelievable."
Another key factor in the Cougs' blossoming has been the ability to take opponents out of their comfort zone. The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 1 in Division I in assists per game (18.9) and 14th in scoring (80.6), never settled into their typical up-tempo flow.
Stalled by WSU's halfcourt D, they struggled through their worst offensive performance in a quarter-century, missing 40 of 53 shots and compiling a meager seven assists.
Asked how the club was able to stymie Notre Dame, Cowgill replied, "I think first and foremost, just getting back (in transition). They love to run. They want to score in the 80s. They want to push the ball and take quick shots (and) open 3's early. So we knew if we had a chance at this game, we were going to have to get back and make them play halfcourt offense against our set halfcourt D."
All told, the fourth-seeded Cougs surrendered 81 points in the first two rounds. Their next task will be to find a way to reprise the success they found in Denver against the mighty Tar Heels. Led by Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams, a master of the high-speed transition game, UNC trounced Arkansas 108-77 on Sunday.
It was the Chapel Hill club's eighth 100-plus point effort of the season.
"Why not?" Weaver said after Saturday's game. "Let's go. Let's do it. We're at North Carolina. It's an away game. We've won games on the road. We played in the Pac-10, and hopefully it got us prepared for this situation."
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Wright may be contacted at jwright@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2277.