'This one is sweet'

COUGAR HEAD COACH Ken Bone summed it up well Saturday after his team pulled out a 65-60 nailbiter over Oregon State. "This one is sweet," he said, alluding not only to the fact it was his first conference victory as WSU's coach but also a little redemption for the controversial, double-overtime loss to Oregon on Thursday.

In addition, the win had to bring a smile because WSU's Klay Thompson -- the third-leading scorer in the nation -- fouled out of the game with about five minutes remaining.

Cougar freshman point guard Reggie Moore made the play of the game with 17.5 seconds left and WSU leading 62-60. As OSU's Calvin Haynes motored down the lane, Moore stepped in front of him and planted in time to draw the charge. DeAngelo Casto, who was beat on the play by Haynes, had a smile from ear-to-ear as he reached out to help Moore off the floor.

Moore was subsequently fouled on the Cougars' inbounding of the ball and hit one-of-two FTs to put WSU up 63-60 with 13 seconds left.

Haynes, however, was not done. He fired up a long three that went in and out, and the Cougars rebounded. Moore then hit two more free throws with 2.2 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Moore was WSU's leading scorer with 19 points, and Marcus Capers was the only other crimson-ite in double figures, with 10. Thompson had just 7, hitting two of four field goals and two of four FTs.

Capers had one of the quieter double-doubles you'll see, with 10 boards to go along with his 10 points. And James Watson did solid work on both ends of the court, drawing two charging fouls and scoring seven points.

THOMPSON WAS THE focus of the Beavers' defensive efforts throughout, their 1-3-1 zone holding him to only six attempts on the night. In foul trouble the second half, he played only 29 minutes.

WSU switched to their own 2-3 zone about midway through the first half and things began to go their way. The tale of the game was pace -- when WSU played at their tempo, they had the Beavs on their heels. When they allowed OSU to set the pace, the slowdown methodical approach favored the Beavs.

NOTABLE NOTES:

WSU shot a horrid 16-29 from the free throw line, despite Thames' 4-for-4 effort.

WSU (11-3 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-10) now hits the road to the Arizona schools next week. OSU is now 6-7.