Talk about a wild range of emotions. I'm sure every Cougar fan went through a similar experience. In the first half I was nervous...my heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty (the guy sitting next to me from The Daily Evergreen started talking about possibly changing his flight to today...that didn't help my cause). It was a whole different story in the second half. The nerves were quickly soothed.

I've never seen anything like it before in my life...it was domination! The Cougars started the half on a 9-0 run and it kept going from there. Winthrop's Taj McCullough, who scored 15 points in the first half, and the rest of the Eagles couldn't hit a shot (they didn't score in until the 13:18 mark). They made only four field goals and shot 16.7% from the floor after the break (Winthrop's leading scorer Michael Jenkins was held to two points all game).

It was a near record breaking performance. Earlier in the day, Kent State scored an NCAA Tournament record low 10 points in the first half against UNLV. The Cougars had Winthrop at eight points until Chris Gaynor hit a three with :13 left to give the Eagles 11 points, just missing the new record.

Yesterday, size mattered. Winthrop had no answer for WSU's big men. Aron Baynes was a perfect 9-9 from the field, scoring a team high 19 points. Robbie Cowgill also had a big game. He scored 14 points of his own, but really stood out defensively in the second half holding McCullough to two points. There were several instances throughout the game that an Eagle would come into the paint, see Baynes and Cowgill in the middle, panic, then kick the ball out.

It was a great game to witness. The Cougar fans did a great job of making it feel as much like a home game as possible (at one point I texted my roommate about how electric the place felt...an awesome atmosphere).

The fun continues on Saturday against Notre Dame. The Irish eased past George Mason yesterday to advance.

Washington State and Notre Dame will be made available to the media today (I'll preview the battle later today right here). We'll have all the latest from Denver on KREM (our 5pm show is actually on KSKN), so stay tuned.

I can tell you this...The Cougars are an early two point favorite over the Irish.

P.S. Warning: I'm about to show off my violent side. When you're sitting in media row at the tourney (or any press box at any event for that matter), you aren't allowed to cheer for your team. The guy sitting next to me (a freelance reporter from North Carolina) started clapping his hands and cheering for Winthrop in the first half (he sat silent in the second half)...I wanted to slap him.

P.S.S ESPN's Andy Katz is in Denver for the tournament. It's amazing to me how much everyone kisses up to that guy. I guess that's how he always has the inside scoop.

4 Comments

Ryan Camp said:

A remarkable second half indeed! I was able to watch the game at the famous Beer Hunter Sports Bar in La Quinta, California. Coug fans numbered somewhere in the 50-75 range. The place came alive in the second half as the Bennett Train got rolling. After the game fans sang the fight song. I would have given my first born to be at the game, however, the Beer Hunter was pretty cool.

P.S. Tim, slap the freelance guy for me if you see him again! Thanks.

March 21, 2008 10:13 AM

Tim Lewis said:

Ryan...consider it done! Thanks for the update from La Quinta (sounds like a blast)...and thanks for keeping the Bennett Train alive! Go Cougs!

March 21, 2008 11:15 AM

Aaron Allina said:

I was fortunate to have been at the game, first row behind the media center court. What a second half. It was great sitting in the Winthrop section as they were all over the first half and I could have sworn they weren't even there the second half. They were commenting on how great our defense was and that they haven't seen anything like that. We were talking with the media and they just felt sorry for Winthrop because they were absolutely schooled.

P.S. Winning as the number 4 in the first round isn't as easy as it looks. Just look at what happened today in Tampa.

GO COUGS!

March 21, 2008 10:29 PM

Megan said:

Go Cougs!!! I watched that game and I was so nervous, but I had faith in them! And now they beat ND today! SWEET 16!!!! When I heard they were in the Sweet16 I almost had a heart attack lol. I think I speak for all the Cougars fans when I say we're so proud of them. Go Cougars![yeah wheres gonzaga lol one and done!]

March 22, 2008 8:26 PM

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