at No. 5/4 Arizona (14-1, 3-1) | Saturday, Jan. 7 | 3 p.m. MT | 2 p.m. PT | McKale Center (Tucson, Ariz.)
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OPENING FIVE
1. Washington State visits Tucson to face No. 5/4 Arizona, Saturday, Jan. 7 at McKale Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT (2 p.m. PT) with coverage on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Arizona, and Pac-12 Washington. Last season WSU and then-No. 4 Arizona met only once, a 72-60 victory for the Wildcats in Pullman, Feb. 10, 2022. UofA has won 5-straight against the Cougars with its last loss to WSU a 55-69 result in Tucson, Feb. 9, 2019.
2. Last time out, the Cougars comeback against Arizona State fell short in a 71-77 defeat in Tempe. DJ Rodman pulled in 12 rebounds to go with 16 points for his second-career double-double. Jabe Mullins led WSU with 19 points and 5 made 3-pointers. WSU pulled within three after an 11-point deficit, but shot 1-of-7 from deep in the final four minutes, while the Sun Devils shot 55.4% from the floor in the game.
3. TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game (ninth in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 44.0% from the floor. Bamba has scored in double figures 13 games this season, including three times with 20+ points. Against Boise State, Nov. 12, Bamba scored a career-high 24 points - the first 20-point game of his career - and back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career with 22 points against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 7) and 20 points vs UNLV (Dec. 10).
4. WSU averages 8.7 made 3-point field goals per game, more than any other team in the Pac-12 (13th in Power 6 conferences). Individually, Jabe Mullins is second in the conference and is fourth in Division-I with a 50% (35-of-70) clip from beyond the arc. Mullins has the best 3-point percentage of any player in Power 6 conferences. Against Detroit Mercy, Nov. 25, the Cougars set a school record with 19 made 3s.
5. Junior transfer Justin Powell has become WSU's lethal point guard threat with the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Pac-12 (2.6, 39th in Division I), and the ninth-best assist per game average in the Conference at 3.3 apg. Five times this season Powell has committed zero turnovers. Powell is 12th in Pac-12 with 39.1 3-point pct.

COUGARS VS WILDCATS
The Cougars travel to Tucson, Ariz., for a matchup with No. 5/4 Arizona. The Wildcats welcome WSU to McKale Center in a 2 p.m. PT (3 p.m. MT) matchup televised on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Arizona, and Pac-12 Washington. Last season WSU and then-No. 4 Arizona met only once, a 72-60 victory for the Wildcats in Pullman, Feb. 10, 2022. Arizona has won 5-straight against the Cougars with its last loss to WSU a 55-69 result in Tucson, Feb. 9, 2019.

LAST TIME OUT – VS ARIZONA STATE
WSU 71 - ASU 77 | JAN. 5, 2023 | TEMPE, ARIZ.
Jabe Mullins finished with five 3-pointers and topped the Cougars (6-10, 1-4) with 19 points. Rodman pitched in with 16 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Justin Powell scored 10. The Sun Devils shot 55% overall but just 29% from beyond the arc (5 of 17). The Cougars shot 43% from the floor and made 11 of 32 from distance (34%). Warren Washington scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half and Arizona State turned back Washington State 77-71 on Thursday night.

NEXT UP
WSU returns to Pullman to welcome the Bay Area schools. The Cougars will host California, Wednesday, Jan. 11 at Beasley Coliseum with television coverage on ESPN2/ESPNU and tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. PT. Washington State has won five-straight against the Golden Bears, including three victories last season. In Pullman, WSU won 65-57, Jan. 15, before picking up the second win 68-64 in Berkeley, Feb. 5. The Cougars made a clean sweep of Cal in a 66-59 win during the opening round of the 2022 Pac-12 Basketball Tournament, March 9.

BAMBA BRINGS THE BUSINESS
TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game (ninth in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 44.0% from the floor. Bamba has scored in double figures 13 games this season, including three times with 20+ points. Against Boise State, Nov. 12, Bamba scored a career-high 24 points - the first 20-point game of his career - and back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career with 22 points against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 7) and 20 points vs UNLV (Dec. 10).

BOMBS AWAY
The Cougars aren't afraid to pull the trigger from deep. As a team, WSU makes 8.7 3-point field goals per game, more than any other team in the Pac-12 and 13th in Power 6 conferences. Washington State also attempts the most 3-pointers in the Conference (24.0) and shoots at a 36.2% clip (139-of-384). Individually, Jabe Mullins is second in the conference and is fourth in Division-I with a 50% (35-of-70) clip from beyond the arc. Mullins has the best 3-point percentage of any player in Power 6 conferences. 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.

MULLINS MAGIC
Junior transfer Jabe Mullins wasted no time opening his scoring account at WSU. Mullins scored the opening basket for the Cougs in the season opener against Texas State and never looked back. After a four-game absence with knee injury, he has returned to sit second in the Pac-12 Conference with a 50.0% (35-of-70) 3-point field goal percentage. Mullins has the best 3-point percentage of any player in Power 6 conferences. Against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, Mullins made eight 3-point field goals - the most by a Coug since Noah Williams had eight vs Stanford on Feb. 20, 2021. It's also the most made 3s by a Pac-12 player this season and tied for the most by a high-major player in Division I. He followed the EWU game with six 3-point FGs against Detroit Mercy, as the Cougs set a school record with 19 made from beyond the arc.

RODMAN RETURNING VETERAN
As the Cougars' veteran senior, Rodman leads the Cougars this season with 18 charges drawn, more than double any teammate. On the offensive glass, Rodman has pulled in 29 offensive rebounds, most by any backcourt Coug, and is second on the team with 5.7 total rebounds per game. The Newport Beach native also leads the Cougars with 14 steals this year. Most recently, Rodman registered his second-career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds at Arizona State (career-high vs Pac-12 opponent). He has scored in double figures in 3-straight games and led WSU in scoring for back-to-back games against the LA schools, marking the first time in career leading the Cougs in scoring for consecutive games.

WINNING BIG, LOSING SMALL
Five of the Cougars' six victories this season have come by at least 10+ points. Closing out close games is crucial for the Cougs, who lost to Utah, Baylor and UNLV by a combined total of 12 points. Washington State's smallest margin of victory came against George Washington, Dec. 22, in a 66-64 nailbiter. It was the smallest margin of victory by a WSU team since a 67-65 win over Arizona State, Jan. 29, 2020. Five times this season the Cougars have lost by six points or fewer, including a 1-point defeat to No. 11 UCLA, Dec. 30, the first single-point loss for WSU since an overtime defeat by Colorado, Jan. 8, 2014. The Cougars are 1-5 in two-possession games this season.

GUEYE TAKING OVER
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, a preseason All-Pac-12 selection and All-Freshman honoree last season, has become a double-double machine with six double-doubles this season. Dec. 30 against No. 11 UCLA, the Senegalese sophomore snagged a career-high 18 rebounds, most by a Coug since Josh Hawkinson tallied 20 against Washington (1/9/2016). During the Diamond Head Classic, he tallied two double-doubles over four days in Hawaii, including a season-high 22 points against Utah State. Gueye registered back-to-back double-doubles for the second time this season, after consecutive double-digit performances versus Utah (Dec. 4) and Northern Kentucky (Dec. 7). This season, Gueye has scored in double figures 11 times, with 21 double-digit performances in his young career. He has led WSU in rebounding 11 times this year.

POWELL'S PERFECT PASSING
Junior transfer Justin Powell has been taking care of the rock all season, sitting at second in the Conference with a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Powell is averaging 3.3 assists per game, ninth in the Pac-12. Three times 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. 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. Powell is also 12th in the Conference as a 3-point shooter at 39.1% (36-of-92). Six times this season Powell has committed zero turnovers.

TOP-25 TOUGHEST SCHEDULE & TOUGH LUCK
According to the KenPom adjusted strength of schedule, Washington State has played the 12th toughest schedule in the country, and fifth-toughest among Power 6 programs. The Cougars hold the toughest schedule in the Conference. Despite a 6-10 record, WSU is ranked 69th in the current KenPom ratings and is the only 6-win program in the top 75. According to the KenPom "luck rating," a measure of the deviation between a team's actual winning percentage and what one would expect from its game-by-game efficiencies, the Cougars are the second unluckiest team in Division I this year, sitting at 362 out of 363 ranked programs.

COUGS CREATING SECOND CHANCES
The Cougars have become a prominent offensive rebounding team, leading to second-chance scoring opportunities. Washington State averages 11.2 offensive rebounds per game, which has led to an average of 11.4 second-chance points per game, compared to just 8.1 second-chance points per game for Cougar opponents on 8.1 offensive rebounds per game. In Conference play, WSU averages 11.6 offensive boards per game, tied for second with UCLA.

GETTING TO THE GLASS
Despite the Cougars lack of frontcourt experience, they hold a +4.6 rebounding margin this season (fifth 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. WSU followed with another dominate rebounding performance against UNLV, limiting the Runnin' Rebels to 20 total boards (five in the first half) and finished with a +13 advantage on the glass.

ROSARIO'S RETURN
Junior Carlos Rosario made his return for the Cougars in the season opener versus Texas State. It had been 627 days (Feb. 18, 2021) since Rosario last played for Wazzu, having to medically redshirt his sophomore season after playing just seven games his freshman season due to medical issues. In his return to the court, Rosario scored his first-career field goal and finished with a career-high six points and three rebounds.

JAK IS BACK
Junior forward Andrej Jakimovski has returned to WSU's starting lineup after beginning the season with a foot injury. Against Southern California, Jan. 1, Jakimovski tallied a season-high six points with team-high six rebounds in 28 minutes as a starter.

FREQUENT FLYERS
The Cougars have spent plenty of time in the air this year. WSU has made two separate trips to Texas this year, in addition to a trip to Hawaii. Since the start of the season, WSU has flown over 14,817 aeronautical miles and will conclude its road trip to Arizona with over 16,249 miles flown.