UCLA looking to sweep
with win over Cougars
By Randy Satterburg
Daily Bruin Staff
After seven years under the steady guide of Kelvin Sampson, the
Washington State men’s basketball team was forced to head in a new
direction when Sampson  who lead the Cougars to their fourth
NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 1993-94 and a 20-11
overall record  left Pullman for a head coaching job at
Oklahoma.
In his stead, Kevin Eastman has assumed the head coaching
responsibilities at Washington State, and if anyone in the Palouse
was concerned that the program would suffer a decline in Sampson’s
absence, Eastman has quieted those fears as he brings his Cougars
(6-4 overall, 2-1 Pac-10) into Pauley Pavilion, Saturday, to meet
the Bruins.
Eastman’s conference debut was a roaring success, as the
newcomer promptly helped Washington State to home-court upsets
against No. 17 California (83-71) and No. 23 Stanford (77-63) in
his first Pac-10 games ever as a head coach.
For the Cougars it represented the first time they had opened
2-0 in the Pac-10 since 1987, and it has them guardedly optimistic
about scoring another first, Saturday against UCLA.
Washington State has an 0-37 record against the Bruins in Los
Angeles, and Eastman hopes that a little beginner’s luck can change
all that.
More likely, Eastman will hope for another big weekend out of
his 5-10 point guard, Inglewood native Dominic Ellison, who was
selected the conference player of the week after scoring 25
second-half points to nearly single-handedly defeat Cal, followed
by 9 assists and 12 second-half points in the win against
Stanford.
Joining Ellison in Washington State’s explosive three-guard
backcourt will be the Cougars’ leading scorer Isaac Fontaine (16.4
ppg) and Shamon Antrum (13.0 ppg). Together they give WSU a speedy
trio that takes some pressure off the Cougars’ main inside weapon,
6-9 junior Mark Hendrickson, one of the Pac-10’s top big men.
"We are starting to see three-guard offenses a lot more now (in
the Pac-10)," UCLA head coach Jim Harrick said. "They try to force
a mismatch with quickness over size, but of course they’ve got to
guard us at the other end too."