The Washington State men’s basketball team won a game.
That’s not a misprint. The Cougars won. Really. Don’t laugh. This is not April Fool’s Day.
Washington State (6-18 overall, 1-14 Pacific-10 Conference) won its first conference game since Jan. 31, 2002 with a 75-71 victory over Oregon State in Pullman on Saturday. The Cougs had lost a school record of 21-straight Pac-10 games.
“I’m really happy for our team,” WSU head coach Paul Graham said after the game. “It was great for our kids to finally come up the tunnel with smiles on their faces.”
Washington State, which finished 1-17 in the conference last season, has been mired in turmoil this season, including a season-ending injury to junior guard Marcus Moore, one of the Pac-10’s top scorers (19.3 points per game). Graham’s future at Washington State has also been questioned around the Palouse this season.
But, at least for one night, the Cougars were saved — by a freshman walk-on. Randy Green, who scored a career-high 18 points against Oregon on Thursday, one-upped himself Saturday with 22 points, the only Cougar to score in double figures.
“For us, he is a godsend, an angel, whatever,” WSU senior Milton Riley told The Spokesman-Review. “This is my guy.”
After the Beavers defeated WSU in Corvallis last month, Oregon State guard Jimme Haywood said that the Cougars would be a bad team even with Moore. The Cougars used that as motivation Saturday.
Haywood, by the way, was held scoreless.
“I still personally don’t think they are any good,” Haywood said. “But we lost, and that pretty much shows me that we aren’t any good. Nothing against Washington State, but they are at the bottom of the Pac-10. We’re sixth place. We shouldn’t have lost, but we did.”
The Cougars had lost 14 straight this season, dating back to a Dec. 23 win over Fresno State.
“It just feels like the weight of the world is off my shoulders,” Riley said. “It’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears we shed, and nobody sees how hard we work in practice and in the weight room.”
Truly, almost nobody saw the Cougars’ tears of joy Saturday. The announced attendance was 2,004, and only about 50 fans rushed Friel Court amid confetti. That’s no joke either.

Pac-10 shuffle
Even if they won their final three conference games, the Cougars would likely have to sit out of the Pac-10 Tournament, which only seats the league’s top eight teams.
Washington (9-15, 4-11), meanwhile, became eligible for the conference tournament with its 78-66 win over Oregon on Saturday. UCLA, which upset Cal on Thursday, is one game behind the Huskies.
The Bruins (6-17, 3-11) have four games remaining, including this week’s visit to Oregon State and Oregon. The Huskies have three games left, all on the road, which includes a trip to Pullman on Saturday.
The coveted eighth-place finish will likely be decided in the last game of the season when Washington and UCLA meet in Los Angeles on March 8.
The Pac-10 Tournament begins March 13 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. If the tournament started today, Washington would face first-place Arizona in the first round, while Cal and USC would meet, as would Stanford and
Oregon State, and Oregon and
Arizona State.