AP-NW–1st SportsMinute,352
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from
The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Chase Budinger had 22 points off the bench
and the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-96 last
night. Starting guard Kyle Lowry had 12 points before leaving due
to a right arm injury late in the third quarter. He did not return.
Courtney Lee finished with 16 as the Rockets’ bench accounted for
66 points. Houston led by as many as 19 for its second straight win
on the road. Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 21 points
for the Blazers.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Gonzaga’s streak of 11 consecutive West
Coast Conference regular-season titles, the second-longest run in
Division I history, is in danger of being snapped. With six games
left, Gonzaga is three games behind No. 16 Saint Mary’s heading
into tonight’s showdown between the league’s top two teams. Saint
Mary’s crushed Gonzaga at home 83-62 a month ago. The Zags realize
this is a must-win game if they want to keep their faint hopes of a
12th consecutive league title alive.
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) – Former Washington State basketball star
Steve Puidokas is one of 12 new inductees into the Pac-12 Hall of
Honor. Puidokas played four years at WSU in the mid-1970s and when
he left he was the all-time leading scorer with 1,894 points and
all-time leading rebounder with 992 rebounds. Puidokas still holds
the WSU career marks for scoring average (18.6 points per game),
field goals (734), and rebounds. He died of a heart attack at the
age of 40.
SEATTLE (AP) – The feeling Lorenzo Romar had about his team the
last time Washington was 9-2 in conference play was far different
from how he feels now. It was the 2004-05 season when Washington
last started conference play on such a streak. The Huskies would go
on be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament that year before losing
in the regional semifinals. No one expects this set of 9-2 Huskies
to be a top seed come March. Washington will get a chance to match
the 10-2 conference start of that 2005 team tonight at Oregon.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-02-09-12 0530EST
