Cougar hoops: A practice scare on the Palouse

PULLMAN -- Washington State players, fans and coaches were breathing a lot easier Wednesday evening after X-rays came back negative on a finger injury suffered by standout point guard Taylor Rochestie late in the team’s afternoon practice.

"All X-rays were negative and everything’s great,” said Ronnie Wideman, operations assistant for the basketball team.

Taylor Rochestie, the senior floor leader of the Cougars, should be ready for Saturday’s game at 16th-ranked Washington (2:30 p.m., FSN). Rochestie leads the Cougars in points (13.3), assists (4.7) and minutes played (36.6) per game.

Rochestie left the practice gym in obvious pain. Coach Tony Bennett, even before X-ray results came back, said the injury did not appear serious.

“He probably just popped it out and it popped back in,” Bennett said.Bennett said Rochestie, a left-hander, aggravated a finger injury on his right hand that he suffered Feb. 21 at UCLA.

Rochestie scored a career-high 33 points that game, and he sank a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime last Saturday against Arizona State.

Bennett joked about having “sausage fingers” due to all the finger injuries he suffered as a player. Rochestie has been playing with his injured finger taped since the UCLA game.