Seattle Storm in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs. McCo

PULLMAN, Wash. -- An empty chair sat at the end of Washington States bench at the beginning of the game. Coach Ernie Kent was on the opposite side of the court, seated next to Idaho coach Don Verlin.Both coaches lost their fathers to cancer, so when Verlin donated a Coach for a Day package to an auction for Coaches vs. Cancer, Kent beat out other bidders and chose to spend the first 30 seconds of the game on Idahos bench.I dont think anybodys ever seen that anywhere in the country, where opposing coaches stood on one side of the field, sat on another teams bench, sat in another teams dugout, Kent said. But thats not the importance of what transpired. It was the fact that you have coaches, again coaches, standing up for such a worthy cause.Kent said it ranked near the top of his favorite coaching memories, as it brought awareness to trying to find a cure for cancer.Kents Washington State team beat cross-border rival Idaho 61-48 on Wednesday night in the 271st meeting.Ike Iroegbu had 16 points and seven rebounds for Washington State (5-4), which scored the first four points of the game, never trailed and led by 18 in the second half. Malachi Flynn added 12 points before getting into foul trouble and the Cougars shot 39 percent from the field. Josh Hawkinson had his 47th career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.Washington State snapped a two-game losing streak to the Vandals in the oldest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi.Idaho (4-4), coming off a win against UC Davis, shot 26 percent from the field. Victor Sanders lead the Vandals with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting.Down 11 points at the half, the Vandals never got within single digits in the second half as they went seven minutes without scoring. Washington State also went scoreless for five-plus minutes after halftime.Idaho turned it over 14 times but grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. Verlin said the teams biggest issue was not being able to score.Just missed a bunch of shots. You gotta give credit to Washington State, Verlin said. Their defenses size really bothered us around the basket. We just didnt score our ball the way we needed to tonight.The all-time series record belongs to the Cougars, who have won 162 meetings compared to Idahos 109.Those games are always the fun games, you know, Iroegbu said. Especially UW, Idaho, Gonzaga, those are the games where you see your schedule come out every year and you circle them, get ready for that one. And when youre in the gym by yourself, those are the teams you think about playing, one of those three teams here at Washington State. These rivalry games are really important to us.BIG PICTUREWashington State: The Cougars ended a four-game home stand with two wins and two losses, and have three games left before conference play begins. After coming in last place in the Pac-12 last season, the Cougars are looking to put together some momentum before they face Washington to open conference play.UP NEXTIdaho: The Vandals will continue their road trip and play at South Dakota State on Dec. 10. They have two games left before conference play.Washington State: The Cougars will travel to face the Big 12s Kansas State. Cheap Custom Nuggets Jersey . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Nuggets Jerseys China . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. http://www.customnuggetsjersey.com/ . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Cheap Nuggets Jerseys . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Wholesale Custom Nuggets Shirts . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Atlanta Dream guard Angel McCoughtry went OFF Wednesday night against the Seattle Storm in the opening round of the WNBA playoffs. McCoughtry put on her dominant display in front of some the Dreams biggest supporters -- the Atlanta Hawks.Sitting courtside, members of the Hawks, including Tim Hardaway Jr., Malcolm Delaney, Dennis Schroder and newcomer Dwight Howard showed support for their Atlanta sister team as they took on Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and the visiting Storm.In 34 minutes, four-time Alll-Star McCoughtry scored 37 points while shooting 66.dddddddddddd7 percent from the field.After the game, McCoughtry received some love from Howard. Way to hoop! Howard tells McCoughtry in this Vine.McCoughtry and the Dream will face the Chicago Sky on Sunday in the second round of the WNBA playoffs.Sean Hurd is a digital media associate at ESPN. Follow him at @seanahurd ' ' '