vs UNLV (9-0, 0-0) | Saturday, Dec. 10 | 1:30 pm PT | MGM Grand Garden Arena
  Live Stats | StatBroadcast
  Watch | FS1 (Gus Johnson & Bill Raftery)
  Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)

OPENING FIVE
1. The Cougars hit the road to conclude nonconference play on a 5-game road swing, beginning Saturday, Dec. 10 against UNLV in the Las Vegas Clash. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from MGM Grand Garden Arena with coverage on FS1. The matchup will be the first all-time meeting between the Cougs and Runnin' Rebels.
2. Last time out, WSU hosted Northern Kentucky, dominating the glass and the scoring in a 68-47 victory over the Norse. TJ Bamba led all scorers with 22 points, while Mouhamed Gueye added a double-double (14pts, 10 rbds). The Cougs limited NKU to 12 rebounds in the game, fewest allowed by a Coug team since 1992.
3. TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game (sixth in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 48.9% from the floor. Bamba has scored in double figures for seven-straight games, including a career-high 24 points against Boise State, Nov. 12 - the first 20-point game of his career - and 22 points vs NKU.
4. As a team, WSU averages 8.9 made 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 (66th in the country). Individually, Jabe Mullins leads WSU with a 56.7% (17-of-30) clip from beyond the arc, followed by TJ Bamba with a .457 clip (16-of-35). In the Nov. 25th game against Detroit Mercy, the Cougars set a school record with 19 made on 29 attempts from downtown.
5. Mouhamed Gueye is slowing turning into a double-double machine. The sophomore has back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career, including a 20 points, 10-rebounds performance against Utah in the Pac-12 home opener. This season, Gueye has scored in double figures six times and led WSU in rebounding six times.

COUGARS VS RUNNIN' REBELS
Washington State begins a five-game road swing to conclude nonconference play, starting Saturday, Dec. 10 against UNLV in the Las Vegas Clash at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. with coverage on FS1. The matchup will be the first all-time meeting between the Cougs and Runnin' Rebels and is part of a Pac-12 doubleheader, which is followed by No. 10/9 Arizona versus No. 14/11 Indiana at 4:30 p.m. on FOX.

LAST TIME OUT – VS NORTHERN KENTUCKY
WSU 68 - NKU 47 | DEC. 7, 2022 | PULLMAN, WASH.
TJ Bamba scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Mouhamed Gueye added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Washington State beat Northern Kentucky 68-47 Wednesday night. Justin Powell scored 11 points for Washington State. WSU shot 63% (15 of 24) from the field, made 5 of 9 from 3-point range and hit 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the first half and led 39-23 at intermission.

ABOUT THE LAS VEGAS CLASH
The Las Vegas Clash presented by The Halal Guys is a double-header event featuring Washington State and UNLV in an afternoon bout, ahead of a top-25 matchup between Arizona and Indiana. The event, held at MGM Grand Garden Arena, will be televised on FOX networks.

NEXT UP
WSU travels to Dallas to meet No. 12/12 Baylor in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at American Airlines Center, Sunday, Dec. 18. The game is part of a quadruple header with two men's and two women's teams from the Pac-12 facing the Texas and Baylor programs. The game is the second in a 5-game road swing for WSU to conclude nonconference play. The Cougs hold a 3-1 advantage all-time against Baylor - the last matchup being a 77-71 victory for WSU, Dec. 23, 2010 at the Diamond Head Classic.

BAMBA'S BACK
TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game (sixth in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 48.9% from the floor. Bamba has scored in double figures for seven-consecutive games, including a career-high 24 points against Boise State, Nov. 12 - the first 20-point game of his career - and 22 points versus Northern Kentucky Wednesday night. He is also shooting well from beyond the arc with 16 made 3-pointers this season on 45.7% shooting. Bamba led the Cougs with five rebounds against Prairie View A&M to go along with a team-high 16 points, marking the second time in Bamba's career he has led WSU in scoring and rebounding (March 3, 2022 against Oregon State).

GUEYE TAKING OVER
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, a preseason All-Pac-12 selection and All-Freshman honoree last season, tallied his second-straight double-double and third of the season Wednesday versus Northern Kentucky. Against the Norse, Gueye finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. In the previous game against Utah, he scored 20 points with 11 rebounds for his first career 20-point, 10-rebound double-double and the first by a Coug since Efe Abogidi registered 21 and 14 against Washington, Feb. 23, 2022. Gueye also tallied a double-double against Texas State, leading the Cougars in scoring and rebounding in the season opener. This season, Gueye has scored in double figures six times, with 16 double-digit performances in his young career.

BOMBS AWAY
The Cougars aren't afraid to pull the trigger from deep. As a team, WSU makes 8.9 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 (66th in the country). Washington State, which attempts the second-most 3-pointers in the Conference (24.1), shoots at a 36.8% clip (71-of-193). Individually, Jabe Mullins leads WSU with a 56.7% (17-of-30) clip from beyond the arc, followed by TJ Bamba with a .457 clip (16-of-35). Freshman forward Mael Hamon-Crespin isn't far behind at 6-of-14 (42.9%). In the Nov. 25th game against Detroit Mercy, the Cougars set a school record with 19 made from beyond the arc. Jabe Mullins led WSU with six made 3-pointers as the Cougs finished 19-of 29 from downtown. The splash show marked the fourth time under Kyle Smith the Cougs have made 15+ from beyond the arc.

POWELL'S PERFECT PASSING
Junior transfer Justin Powell has been taking care of the rock all season, as the country's leader with a 5.00 assist-to-turnover ratio. Powell is averaging 4.4 assists per game, sixth in the Pac-12. The Kentucky native dished out a career-high 12 assists in his WSU debut against Texas State, Nov. 7, the most assists by a Coug in a season opener since assists became an official stat in the 1985-86 season and the most by a WSU player in any game in 13 years, when Reggie Moore tallied 12 assists against Portland State, Dec. 19, 2009. It's also the first double-double with assists since Malachi Flynn dished out 11 assists to go with 11 points against Arizona, Jan. 31, 2018. Twice this season Powell has tallied seven assists without committing a turnover. When he went a perfect 7.0 against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, he was the first Coug with at least as many assists and no giveaways since Andrej Jakimovski tallied nine assists without a turnover against Cal, Feb. 18, 2021.

RODMAN RETURNING VETERAN
As the Cougars' veteran senior, Rodman entered WSU's starting lineup in the season opener against Texas State. Rodman scored 16 points, the most since scoring a career high 21 points against Northern Colorado, Dec. 18, 2021. He finished with a +14 plus-minus and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Rodman followed up with a career-high 14 rebounds against Boise State to lead WSU on the boards, with 5 offensive rebounds. He leads the Cougars this season with seven  charges drawn, more than double any teammate. On the offensive glass, Rodman has pulled in 14 offensive rebounds and is second on the team with 5.9 total rebounds per game.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
Despite the Cougars lack of frontcourt size, they hold a +5.9 rebounding margin this season (third in the Conference). When WSU faced Northern Kentucky, Dec. 7, the Cougs held the Norse to four first-half rebounds and just 12 rebounds in the game. It marked the fewest rebounds by a Washington State opponent since Dec. 29, 1992 when Princeton pulled in seven rebounds. The last time a WSU opponent was held below 20 rebounds was when Idaho State gathered 16 boards in Kennewick, Wash., Dec. 29, 2012. The Cougars finished with a +29 rebounding margin against Northern Kentucky, the largest margin since Nov. 15, 2008 when WSU went +34 (53-19) on the glass against Mississippi Valley State and only the second time in the last 25 years.

WINNING BIG
All four Cougar victories this season have come by at least 20+ points. Washington State's smallest margin of victory was against Northern Kentucky, a 21-point win, Dec. 7. All but one of the Cougars' games have been decided by double figures. The only single-digit game was the Conference home-opener against Utah, Dec. 4, when WSU fell to the Utes, 65-67, in overtime.

RECORD IN LAS VEGAS
Washington State played its first game in the Sin City during the 2012 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, March 7, 2012, falling to Oregon State, 64-69. Since then, WSU holds a 2-12 record all-time on The Strip, with wins against Colorado, March 11, 2020 (final Division I basketball game in the country before COVID shutdown) and a win in the opening round of the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament over California, 66-59.

INJURY BUG BITES EARLY
The Cougs have been short-handed since the start of the season due to injury. Prior to the season starting, the Cougars announced they will be without junior Dishon Jackson or redshirt freshman Myles Rice. Both are out indefinitely due to medical issues. Rice announced publicly in October he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is undergoing treatment. Jackson did not disclose his medical issue and asked for privacy. WSU has also been without Jakimovski (foot) since preseason. Junior transfer Jabe Mullins, one of the hottest shooting guards in the country, has missed two games with a knee injury. In addition, Darling, Diongue, Rodman, and Rosario have each missed at least one game at different times due to illness or injury.