Cougars Know Cat’s Out of Bag

Washington State guard Jan-Michael Thomas isn’t going to sneak up on USC tonight. In fact, the junior sharpshooter is quickly becoming the worst-kept secret in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Thomas scores 16 points a game and ranks among the conference’s best long-range shooters. He made a three-point basket with eight seconds remaining to pull his team close in a 69-66 loss to No. 11 UCLA on Thursday night.

“Shooting . . . that’s what I do,” Thomas said. “I just try to bring something to the game.”

And defenses are paying more attention to him as the season progresses.

“We have to set better screens for him because other teams are getting wise,” Washington State Coach Kevin Eastman said. “They are guarding him nose to nose, knee to knee, cheek to cheek, you name it.”

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After a two-point loss to Washington on Thursday, a couple of Trojans said 7-foot Husky center Todd MacCulloch was even better than they had expected.

Brandon Granville was impressed with the big man’s reach. Granville tried to scoot around MacCulloch in the final second only to have his layup smacked out of bounds.

“I kind of got past him,” Granville said. “But he’s long and rangy.”

Center Brian Scalabrine, who stands 6 feet 9, marveled at the sheer size of the Washington senior. Asked what he needed to do to compete with MacCulloch, Scalabrine said, “I need to get bigger, stronger, faster and quicker. And, next year, he’ll be out of the league.”

* Coming up: Feb. 4 vs. Oregon State, Feb. 6 vs. Oregon.

Tonight

at Washington State, 5

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Site--Friel Court, Pullman, Wash.

* Records--Trojans 10-7, 2-6 in conference; Cougars 8-11, 2-6.

* Update--Washington State has more than just Jan-Michael Thomas. Junior forward Chris Crosby averages 14 points a game. Senior Kojo Mensah-Bonsu averages better than 13 points and six rebounds.