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Low, Forest help Washington State crush Mississippi Valley St.

Nov 25, 2007 - 12:52 AM SPOKANE, Washington (Ticker) -- Derrick Low and his Washington State teammates are making the early prognosticators look good.

Low scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half as the ninth-ranked Cougars easily cruised by Mississippi Valley State, 71-26, in their second game of the Hispanic College Fund Classic on Saturday.

Caleb Forest scored a career-high 16 points and Stephen Sauls and Kyle Weaver added 12 and 10, respectively, for Washington State (5-0), which is currently tied for its highest ranking in school history. The only other time the Cougars, who were ranked 10th in the preseason, were ranked this high was on February 9, 2007.

It was also Washington State's best defensive showing since holding Idaho to 23 points in 1948, and the lowest total the school has allowed since the shot clock was introduced.

Low, a 6-2 senior who leads the team in scoring, made his first five shots including a 3-pointer to help Washington State jump out to a 34-17 lead at the half. For the half, the Cougars made 12-of-17 from the floor before finishing 62 percent (24-of-39).

Washington State is now 12-0 in November games under second-year coach Tony Bennett.

However, Bennett was not overly impressed with the win over an outclassed opponent.

"Ask me that when we play a high-level Pac-10 team," said Bennett, when asked if this was the best defensive showing he had seen at WSU.

Carl Lucas scored 18 points for the Delta Devils (0-6), who shot 43 percent (12-of-28) but have failed to score more than 63 points in any of their games, losing four of them by at least 30.

"The Cougars impressed me, they continued to play at a high level the entire game," Mississippi Valley coach James Green said.

The four-team tournament concludes Sunday when Mississippi Valley State playing Montana, while Washington State will pair off with Air Force.