Archives for November 2018

Several dozen of those Inland Northwest fans who claim the purple and gold, rather than the crimson and gray, will pack into a charter ready to make the 75-mile trek to cheer for the underdog Washington Huskies in the 111th edition of the Apple Cup.

It’s Apple Cup weekend.

This will be the 111th matchup between the football teams from Washington and Washington State and a lot is on the line, with the winner claiming the Pac-12 North title.

The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. in Pullman and will be broadcast on Q13 Fox.

Here’s a look at a few historical numbers ahead of the big game:

• Washington leads the series 72-32-6.
• The first meeting between the two was a 5-5 tie in 1900.
• The Huskies have won five in a row and eight of nine games in the series.
• WSU coach Mike Leach is 1-5 in Apple Cups. UW coach Chris Petersen is 4-0.
• UW holds the longest winning streak, twice winning eight in a row (1959-66 and 74-81).
• The Cougars longest streak is two in a row, which they have done eight times.
• The largest margin of victory for either team came in 2000, when UW won 51-3.
• They’ve met 17 times off campus (Spokane 16, CenturyLink 1).
• This will be the eighth meeting when both teams are ranked in the AP Poll, and third in a row.

“I’ve had people calling this week to see if there’s room, which is great,” said Stephanie Fleisher, a 2008 graduate of the University of Washington who serves as assistant director of Spokane and Eastern Washington relations for the school. “We have Husky fans coming from Southern California to ride the bus.”

Such road trips have been infrequent in recent years, said Steve Lamberson, a local attorney and UW alumnus from 1978. Lamberson estimated he’d been to 40 Apple Cups over the years, including the contests in the early and middle 2000s when the two teams taking the field hadn’t performed anywhere close to the two top-15 powers that will battle Friday night.

“From 2000 to 2015 – we called them the dark years,” Lamberson said. “The Huskies just went through numerous coaches.”

The Huskies won 10 of those 15 contests but fell in the 2008 game in Pullman to round out the first winless season in Pac 12 play in 28 years. Known colloquially as the “Crapple Cup,” because Washington State’s victory only pushed them to two wins on the season, most Husky fans say now they’re just happy Friday’s game will take on some meaning.

“I’m glad we’re a long way from that scenario,” said Mark Ostersmith, a 1990 graduate of UW who now is the chapter lead for the school’s alumni association in Spokane.

Ostersmith won’t be watching the game in Pullman – he has Thanksgiving plans with the in-laws. But don’t count the Spokane native among those who hope for a close contest. Even with the compelling story of WSU’s breakout star quarterback, and a season that has defied all expectations for the Cougars, Ostersmith wants a blowout.

“Some people say, ‘I just want it to be a good game,’ ” he said. “To heck with that, I want to win by 40 every time.”

That sentiment is shared by father and son Jay and Brayden Underwood, who will both be traveling to Pullman on Friday, but not on the alumni bus. The pair said they wanted a big Husky win, but acknowledged that WSU had earned its national prominence by performing at a high level all year.

“I live here, so I’m one of those Husky fans that, I don’t always root for the Cougars but I have actually rooted for them this year and it’s been a lot of fun,” said Jay Underwood. “I am envious.”

“I’m optimistic that the Cougs aren’t really as good as they look, and that the Huskies – ” Jay Underwood continued, before his son cut him off on the phone line.

“Well, we’re really only a few plays away from having the same record as them,” Brayden Underwood, a 2016 graduate of the university who now lives in Seattle, said. “It’s all just kinda crazy how college football works in that sense. For me, I don’t know if I’d say I’m envious.”

Most Husky fans agreed while there’s some good-natured ribbing between the two fan bases in Spokane, it’s not as difficult to cheer for their alma mater in Eastern Washington as in other rivalries.

“One thing the Cougars and Huskies share in common is their hatred for Oregon,” said Jay Underwood. “But I think there’s no denying that the Cougar/Husky rivalry is bigger than that, we just don’t like to admit it.”

Lamberson said in his many visits to Pullman over the years as a Husky fan he’s never faced any unreasonable heckling.

“It’s hostile, in a good-natured, good-spirited way,” Lamberson said.

Ostersmith remembered back to growing up as a Husky fan in Spokane, and how his brother, Sean Smith, reacted following a Cougar upset victory. He estimated it was the 1982 contest, when Washington State knocked off the heavily favored, fifth-ranked Husky squad 24-20 in Pullman to deny the favorites a trip to the Rose Bowl.

“All these Cougs came out of the woodwork,” Ostersmith remembered, laughing. “And my brother wrote this poem, ‘Ode to the Closet Coug.’ I think it was therapeutic for him.”

The Husky faithful all agreed making a clear prediction in what promises to be an Apple Cup for the ages was difficult.

“I hope it’s a blowout,” Ostersmith said. “But, if you asked me, gun to my head, I have no clue how this game is going to go.”

Gonzaga found itself in the same position as Duke’s first five opponents: appearing helpless as the Blue Devils and their rim-rattling freshmen ran past and flew over them.

The Zags never panicked, never looked up in awe at the bouncy Blue Devils. They have too much experience to get rattled, even against college basketball’s most talked-about team.

Playing with poise and grit down the stretch, No. 3 Gonzaga turned back top-ranked Duke’s late-game charge to win the Maui Invitational title game 89-97 on Wednesday.

“Experience plays a big role in this,” said Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr., who had 18 points. “We came down the stretch and got some stops. We knew we were winning it on the defensive end.”

Gonzaga (6-0) put on an offensive show in the first half and battened down on defense after Duke made a second-half charge, blocking four shots in the final 46 seconds to win its second Maui title.

Rui Hachimura scored 20 points and the Zags beat a No. 1 team for the first time while ending the Blue Devils’ unbeaten streak on the Valley Isle (17-1).

Dubbed a Final Four contender when Killie Tillie returns, Gonzaga already looks like one — even with one of their best players on the bench in a walking boot.

“The lights were on us tonight and we played good, which you have to against Duke,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “You have to pretty much play great. I thought we played great.”

Five-time Maui champion Duke (5-1) made it look easy the season’s first five games, its fantastic freshmen soaring through the spotlight, not cowering away from it while looking all but unbeatable.

The experienced Zags gave them a lesson in ball movement, orchestrating a master class in free-flowing, position-less basketball while building a 14-point first-half lead.

Duke’s Maui run, done.

Well, not just yet.

The Blue Devils fell behind by 16 in the second half before firing up the Blue Devil express with a series of head-above-the-rim dunks and drives.

Taking advantage of Gonzaga big man Brandon Clarke’s fourth foul, Duke pulled within a basket as Blue Devils fans sent an earthquake of noise off the rafters of tiny Lahaina Civic Center.

Hachimura put Gonzaga up 89-87 with a strong move at the basket with 75 seconds left, but the Zags kept giving Duke chances by missing four free throws. Clarke clanked two with 30 seconds left and Hachimura came up empty on two more with 10 seconds left.

Gonzaga’s defense made up for it.

Hachimuru and Clarke each had two blocked shots in the final minute, capped by Clarke’s swat of R.J. Barrett’s driving attempt at the buzzer.

A seated Barrett raised his arms, wondering why no foul was called. The Zags leaped in celebration after a game with a Final Four feel packaged in a small-town rec center.

Barrett had 23 points and Zion Williamson scored 22 for the suddenly humbled Blue Devils.

“We finally started to fight in the last 14 minutes, whereas before we had just come to play and we weren’t as emotionally ready as Gonzaga,” said Duke’s Javin DeLaurier, who had six points and six rebounds.

This was the game everyone expected when the Maui Invitational got another marquee title game between the what-will-they-do-next Blue Devils against the electrically efficient Zags.

Duke and its future lottery picks steamrolled San Diego State and outlasted No. 8 Auburn to reach its sixth Maui title game in six years. Gonzaga survived Illinois’ frenetic attack and put on a second-half show to beat Arizona in the semifinals.

The Blue Devils ran roughshod over one top-5 team to open the season, making then-No. 2 Kentucky look like a JV team.

The Zags not only didn’t back down, they threw the first punch.

Forcing Duke defenders through one ball screen after another, Gonzaga played the position-less basketball game better than the Blue Devils. The Zags all but took Duke big man Marques Bolden, who had seven blocked shots in the semifinals, out of the game with their ball movement and created numerous open looks for themselves.

“They were just dictating the flow,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I mean we were not playing good defense, but they were playing great offense.”

When Clarke went to the bench with his fourth foul midway through the second half, Gonzaga went into a stall. Duke put together a run, a sixth Maui title within reach.

The Zags swatted Duke’s bid away.