Spokesman.com
We Showed Up, They Showed Out: Cougs Top UW 84-80 in Exhibition
Seven thousand and eleven people showed up to watch a basketball game that doesn't count, and it counted for everything. The Cougs beat UW 84-80 in an exhibition at Alaska Airlines Arena, and if you think that doesn't mean something, you weren't there. This is the first time since 1917 these two teams won't play in the regular season, but the Cougars got their shot anyway and took it.
They trailed by ten in the first half. Then they trailed by seven in the second. Then Ronnie Harrison, a senior transfer from East Texas A&M, went back-to-back on a tip-in and a dunk, broke a tie with five minutes left, and finished the night with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He also blocked LeJuan Watts' game-tying three-pointer with six seconds left. That's the kind of ending you don't script.
This is a brand-new roster. Transfers from Central Missouri, Oregon, Providence, Eastern Washington, guys who had to learn each other's names a few months ago. After a 28-point loss at New Mexico last week, this win says something about the kind of fight this team has.
The Apple Cup rivalry isn't what it used to be, and our story on that, "Hoop dreams are fading, and the Huskies just lost the Apple Cup fight", digs into why that matters. But for one Sunday in Seattle, the Cougs showed up, and they showed out. Go Cougs.
