Washington State head coach Dick Bennett officially announced his retirement Tuesday, effective following the end of this season. Bennett spent three seasons as the Cougars’ coach, amassing a 36-46 record after stints at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin, the team he took to the Final Four in 2000.

“”I did what I set out to do,”” Bennett said of the last three years in a teleconference on Tuesday. “”What I wanted to do might have been a little more. The best way I could put it is we got what we expected, not necessarily what we hoped for.””

Bennett will hand over the reigns of the program to his son and associate coach Tony Bennett, who played for his father at UW-Green Bay and later assisted him at Wisconsin.

The elder Bennett was known for his slow tempo and tough defensive style, which he brought along with him to Pullman while attempting to restore a losing program.

“”You play his teams, and you know you have to be sound because everything they do is sound,”” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “”Offensively they’re patient enough to wait for the good shots; defensively they just don’t make mistakes. If you beat them, you beat them because of your talent, not because of the coaching.””

Bennett and the Cougars snapped Arizona’s 38-game winning streak against Washington State last January in McKale Center. Overall, Bennett’s career record stands at 490-303.

“”Dick is obviously a great coach, and he’s proven that, but I think he’s an even better human being, a fantastic guy,”” Olson said.

“”I think we’ve lost a great, great coach,”” said Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar.

DeWitz’s season over

Oregon State senior forward Nick DeWitz will miss the remainder of the season with a separated left shoulder. The Chandler native suffered the injury at Southern California in the Beavers’ 89-84 loss Saturday after attempting a dunk and landing heavily on the floor.

Pruitt cleared to practice

USC sophomore guard Gabe Pruitt has been cleared to practice and will likely be back in uniform today, said USC head coach Tim Floyd. Pruitt had missed the last five games with a tibial plateau fracture in his left knee, which he suffered in practice Feb. 6.

He is USC’s second leading scorer, averaging 17.0 points per game.