For those still looking for blogs on this website, those days are gone. You need to go to spokesman.com, click on "topics" and find sportslink to comment. The new look requires registering your e-mail address, but you can still maintain your nom de plume.

Guards Mac Hopson and Kashif Watson combined for 31 points and 13 assists to push Idaho to a 67-46 win over hapless Texas Southern this evening. The Vandals moved to 6-5 -- their best record in 11 years.

Keep reading for more.

IDAHO BASKETBALL

The Vandals rebounded after an ugly loss to South Carolina State last week with a 81-68 triumph over the same Bulldogs tonight at the Kibbie Dome. Read on for my unedited game story and a few football notes.

COUGARS • UPDATED IN COMMENTS: 9:25 A.M. THURSDAY

In honor of our new website, we're going to do something new today as well: Put together an interesting post. Well, sort of. Read on.

It’s too bad almost doesn’t count – because the Spokane Chiefs nearly came up with a big comeback on Tuesday night.

But despite outshooting the Medicine Hat Tigers by 21 shots, and scoring twice in the third period to tie the game, the Chiefs dropped their second straight contest – a 3-2 Western Hockey League loss to the Tigers at the Arena.

Linebacker Kevin McCullough, offensive lineman Kyle Young and defensive lineman Jeff Van Orsow will return to the Spokane Shock for the 2009 arenafootball2 season.

Gonzaga Prep has all its basketball pieces covered. The Bullpups can beat you inside (as they did against Mt. Spokane) or outside (which happened tonight when Shadle Park arrived for a battle of unbeatens. Sean Fischer scored 27 points (five 3-pointers) and David Stockton added 13 during the 65-47 romp.

Also tonight, North Central held off Central Valley. The Indians continue to live dangerously and are loving it. They're 3-1, the wins coming by two or one point. Their loss was by four.

Here's my story:

COUGARS • UPDATED:10:45 A.M.

Not much going on in Pullman this week except some last-minute cramming for finals – if you have a good story along those lines, don't be afraid to share – and football recruiting.

I could regale you with travel horror stories, but I made it home and we'll get right to the day-after post following Gonzaga’s 69-64 loss to Arizona in Phoenix. As GU players said afterward, Arizona played well and extremely hard, and the Bulldogs weren't on top of their game.

Head coach Mark Few boiled it down in his opening remarks in the interview room: "I thought we battled pretty hard, especially in the second half, and gave ourselves a chance to win. We didn't quite make plays at the end and Arizona did."

Meanwhile, Gonzaga slipped in the polls -- to 8th in A.P. and tied for seventh with Xavier in ESPN/USA Today. The Bulldogs were fourth last week. More here.

Read on below.

If we survive the bitter cold this week, there are a couple of entertaining athletic events this weekend.

The annual Fight for the Fish spirit doubleheader between the Coeur d'Alene and Lake City boys and girls basketball teams is Friday at Lake City. The girls tip off at 5:45, followed by the boys at about 7:45.

The 37th annual Tri-State wrestling tournament is Friday and Saturday at North Idaho College. The championship finals will be at about 5 p.m. on Saturday (probably closer to 5:30).

COUGARS

Just a couple of quick notes for this Monday morning. First off, bundle up. We don't want any readers frozen to their keyboards this week. Second, read on for a couple links.

North Central cross country coach Jon Knight was named DyeState Eastbay coach of the week.

Here's a link to the story in Knight for his accomplishment in building a three-time state champion.

The recognition is well deserved.

Back with an unedited game story on Gonzaga's 69-64 loss to Arizona on Sunday.

Click below for it and an update on Robert Sacre's foot injury.

Arizona handed Gonzaga its first defeat of the season, breaking from a 62-62 tie by scoring seven of the last nine points for a 69-64 victory.

Fourth-ranked Gonzaga (7-1) was led by Austin Daye's 22 points.

Jordan Hill, who had four points in UA's final spurt, had 22 points and Nic Wise added 21.

Check back in about 2 hours for the game story.

Halftime at U.S. Airways Center -- the arena is about half full -- and Gonzaga trails 35-34.

More below.

The addition of Adris DeLeon and Chris Busch to Eastern Washington rotation did not translate into victory for the Eagles, who lost at Hawaii on Saturday night.

You can read the game story that was put together for Sunday morning's S-R here; you can see what the Honolulu Advertiser had on the game here, and you can read the account of the game published on EWU's website here.

Lots of stuff that didn't make the preview article. Click below for more.

Idaho and Spokane wrestlers had their share of champions, but Hermiston and Moses Lake scored highest as teams during Saturday's Inland Empire Classic at Central Valley

Here's my story in Sunday's Spokesman-Review:

COUGARS • UPDATED: 9:50 A.M.

Good morning. There's a Bing Crosby, White Christmas vibe going on here at SeaTac, with a couple inches of snow on the ground and the roads looking pretty slick. No matter. We'll be back in warm Spokane soon. What? It's 8 degrees over there? Great. Well, at least WSU was hot last night. We have links and notes. Read on.

• UPDATE: I meant to link to this last night, but WSU had its football banquet last night. Brandon Gibson and Greg Trent won the main awards. You can read all about it here.

The Spokane Chiefs played host on back-to-back nights to the Seattle Thunderbirds this weekend and wound up with one win and one loss.

Here's the link to the game story from Friday night's 1-0 victory, and you can read about Saturday night's 3-1 loss below.

COUGARS

We're back with the unedited version of my game story on WSU's relatively easy win over Montana State in the Cougar Hardwood Challenge or Classic (depending on what media release you read) in Key Arena. Read on.

Down in Phoenix for tomorrow's Desert Classic(Gonzaga-Arizona at 3 PST, Arizona State-IUPUI at 12:15).

Read on for an unedited GU-UA preview that will run in Sunday's S-R. The hot topic down here, of course, is the Arizona coaching vacancy and whether Gonzaga's Mark Few has any interest in the job.

The more relevant topic at present for the Zags is the health of Robert Sacre, who reinjured his foot at practice Thursday. An update on him below, followed by the preview.

COUGARS

Well, that didn't last long. WSU's first two-game nonconference losing streak in Tony Bennett's tenure ended with a 70-51 win Saturday night at Key Arena over a game but overmatched Montana State team. The Cougars built as much as a 23-point lead through offensive execution and just enough defense.

We'll be back in about 90 minutes with our game story.

COUGARS

Patience is a virtue, and WSU is being virtuous this evening against Montana State. The Cougars are 14 of 24 from the floor in the first half against the Bobcats, with only five of those shots coming from beyond the arc.

The result is a 30-18 halftime lead, thanks to the patient offense and a defense that's limited MSU to 6 of 23 from the floor and just two offensive rebounds. We'll be back after the game with some more thoughts.

COUGARS

There will be some changes tonight, but you're going to have to be watching closely to see them. Read on for some thoughts on tonight's game and the adjustments Tony Bennett and his staff have instituted.