Huskies

The latest news and analysis on Husky men's hoops.

I know this is a Washington Husky blog, but we’ll lead today’s post with a column from Bud Withers about Washington State coach Ken Bone, who may be on the hot seat.

His efforts to clean-up the program could have a correlation to the Cougars’ troubles on the court.

Bone told Withers: “We’ve put a huge, huge emphasis on character. What happened there a couple of years ago, it’s on me, because I was the head coach. I’d never in my life been associated with something like that.

“I would sit in my office and say, ‘This is unbelievable.’ I never thought that guys breaking the law would interfere with my success, or lack, in being a successful basketball coach.”

Washington State is last in the Pac-12 at 2-10. The Cougars are 11-14 overall and appear to be headed to their first losing season since 2006. Bone has never finished below .500 during his previous three seasons. But he’s never led them to a NCAA tournament either.

Here’s a poll (below) asking what’s the problem with WSU.

AROUND THE PAC-12:

— Colorado got a little revenge and a big win last night while defeating No. 9 Arizona 71-58in front of a sold-out crowd at the Coors Events Center. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 21 points and Xavier Johnson added 19 to lead the Buffaloes (17-7, 7-5) to its second win over a ranked opponent in a week.

— Arizona senior forward Solomon Hill told the Arizona Daily Star: “We just played catch-up pretty much the whole game.” The Wildcats (20-4, 8-4) fell into a second-place tie with UCLA in the league standings.

— California continues its push for a NCAA tournament berth. After registering significant wins over Arizona and Oregon recently, the Golden Bears thrashed UCLA 76-73 in front of 9,854 fans at Haas Pavilion. “We’re clicking as a team right now, and we keep getting better each and every day,” junior wing Allen Crabbe told the Mercury News. He finished with 16 points and Cal improved to 15-9, 7-5.

— The Baby Bruins look as if they’ve hit the freshman wall. UCLA (18-7, 8-4) has lost four of the past seven games.

— The hottest team in the Pac-12 is USC, which has a four-game winning streak including last night’s 65-64 win at Stanford. Seems crazy, but the Trojans are a serious Pac-12 title contender even though they’re still below .500. USC is 12-13 and 7-5. More importantly, it is 5-3 under interim coach Bob Cantu.

— Stanford wasted a big night from junior forward Josh Huestis, who scored a personal best 22 points. The Cardinal, which entered the game winning four of its past five games, seriously hurt its chances of winning an at-large NCAA tourney berth. Stanford is 15-10, 6-6.