WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (9-2) at UTAH RUNNIN' UTES (9-2)
Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 // 6:30 p.m. MT // 5:30 p.m. PT
Salt Lake City, Utah // Jon M. Huntsman Center // 15,000
Radio Coverage
WSU Learfield Network
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
Television Coverage
Pac-12 Network
JB Long & Casey Jacobsen

OPENING FIVE
1. WSU begins the 2023-24 Pac-12 schedule in the mountains, facing Utah, Friday, Dec. 29 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah with tipoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT
2. Myles Rice continued an incredible start to his freshman season, the 2-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week is WSU's 2nd-leading scorer at 15.5 ppg, shooting 46.6%, while dishing out 32 assists and grabbing 21 steals
3. The Cougars hold opponents to just 37.3% shooting, top in the Pac-12 and No. 7 in Division-I, offensively WSU shoots the ball at a 48.3% clip, having shot over 50% six times this season
4. Four Cougs are shooting over 50% from the floor, led by WSU bigs Jones (.634), Chinyelu (.625), and Cluff (.559), with Houinsou shooting 55.3% from the floor and Rice close behind at 46.6%
5. WSU is one of the best rim protection frontcourts in the country, averaging 5.7 blocks per game, top in Pac-12 and 14th in the country. Chinyelu leads WSU with 16 blocks and five Cougs have at least 8 blocks (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, Jakimovski, Jones)

LAST TIME VS UTAH
Branden Carlson scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Utah to a 77-63 victory over Washington State. Utah never trailed and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half. Gueye scored 20 points for Washington State. Jabe Mullins had nine of his 11 points in the first half and Powell finished with 10. The Cougars' leading scorer, TJ Bamba, missed his third straight game with a hand injury.

CURRENT COUGS VS UTAH
WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith has faced the Runnin' Utes seven times as a head coach and six times during his tenure in Pullman. Last season, the Cougars dropped both contests to Utah after getting a sweep in the 2021-22 season with Smith holding a 3-4 all-time record versus UU. Andrej Jakimovski is the Coug with the most experience against the Utes, having participated in four matchups with a 2-2 record. Kymany Houinsou and Dylan Darling both appeared in last year's games, while then-junior Jabe Mullins played in the January game.

COUGARS VS RUNNIN' UTES
Washington State begins the 2023-24 Pac-12 men's basketball season in Salt Lake City, Utah to face the Utah Runnin' Utes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, Friday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. MT (5:30 p.m. PT). The Cougars dropped both contests to the Utes last year, including an overtime defeat in the first Pac-12 game of the 2022-23 season. WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith is 2-4 against Utah during his tenure and 3-4 overall, including a win while at USF.

LAST TIME OUT // VS BOISE STATE
WSU 66 // BSU 61 // DEC. 21, 2023 // SPOKANE, WASH.
Isaac Jones scored 21 points, including five in the final minute and a half, and Washington State outlasted Boise State 66-61 on Dec. 21 at Spokane Arena. A three-point play by Jones gave the Cougars a 62-58 lead with 1:27 remaining but Boise State's Chibuzo Agbo nailed a 3-pointer on the next possession. After a WSU turnover and a Boise State miss from close range, Kymany Houinsou made two free throws for a three-point WSU lead. Boise State's Max Rice then missed a 3-pointer and Jones finished off the win with a pair of free throws. Boise State scored the first eight points of the second half to erase a six-point deficit and take a 35-33 lead. There would be nine ties and seven more lead changes by game's end. Myles Rice scored 14 points for the Cougars (9-2). Andrej Jakimovski grabbed 13 rebounds. Washington State had a 15-2 advantage in bench points, thanks mostly to Jabe Mullins with 13 points.

NEXT UP // AT COLORADO
The Cougars wrap up the first road trip of the Pac-12 schedule in Boulder, Colorado, Sunday, Dec. 31. Before ringing in the New Year, WSU faces the Buffs at the CU Event Center with tipoff scheduled for 11 a.m. PT (12 p.m. MT) live on Pac-12 Network. Last year, Wazzu only faced Colorado once last season, making the trip to the front range. The Cougars have never won at Boulder with an 0-12 all-time record.

RICE CONTINUES STELLAR START TO FRESHMAN YEAR
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice, a 2-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, has emerged as WSU's 2nd-leading scorer at 15.5 points per game. Rice has scored in double figures in nine of his first 11 games. The Columbia, S.C. native dished out a career-high seven assists in a Dec. 10 win over Grambling, the most by a Coug this season and also grabbed seven steals in the win, the most by a Coug in four seasons, and one shy of WSU's all-time single-game record. Rice is currently the conference's second-leading freshmen scorer, behind USC's Isaiah Collier, and 14th overall. Rice became the first Cougar to earn the first back-to-back Pac-12 weekly awards since Mouhamed Gueye was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in the final two weeks of the 2021-22 season.

JONES STEPS INTO LEADING ROLE
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones has found a role as a big 4, stretching the floor against bigger defenders, while working inside against smaller matchups, and established himself as WSU's leading scorer at 15.6 ppg (12th in Pac-12). Jones has registered two double-doubles as a Coug, including 27 points with 11 rebounds in a win over Portland State. Most recently, the Spanaway, Washington native led the Cougs with 21 points in a win over Boise State. Jones shoots an efficient 63.4% from the field, ranking second in the Pac-12 and 16th nationally. Jones has led the Cougars in rebounding five times and ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with 7.3 rebounds per game.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
WSU concluded the nonconference schedule with nine wins, matching Kyle Smith's most preseason wins during his five years in Pullman. Smith and the Cougs also won nine nonconference games in 2019-20.

STIFLING DEFENSE
The Cougars' defense has fit Coach Smith's mold of winning with grit, as WSU ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.373), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.280), and blocks per game (5.7). Wazzu's defensive field goal prowess ranks seventh in the country and  25th from beyond the arc. The Cougs limit opponents to 62.5 ppg, second in the Pac-12 and 17th nationally. WSU's scoring margin (+14.9) is 33rd-best in America and rebounding margin (+8.7) checks in at No. 26 in D-I.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early in nonconference play, boasting 63 blocks, 5.7 per game, to lead the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars' average is 14th nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 12 in the country according to KenPom.com's effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 16 rejections. Five Cougs have at least eight blocks each (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, Jakimovski, Jones). In the Dec. 2 win over Portland State, the Cougs swatted away a season-high 10 shots, marking the first time since March 2022 with 10+ blocks in a single game.

SMOOTH SHOOTING
The Cougars have gotten off to a hot start from the floor, shooting above .500 in six of their first nine games. Wazzu is third in the Pac-12 Conference with a .488 team field goal percentage, trailing No. 4 Arizona and Colorado in shooting, and ranks 35th in Division-I basketball. The Cougs have won every game shooting above .500 and also shot an eye-watering .652 from beyond the arc in a Nov. 24 win against Utah Tech, the best since making a school record 19 threes (.655) in last fall's win over Detroit Mercy.

NOT SO FAST...
Fast break points have been hard to come by for Wazzu's opponents with just 56 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 11.2 to 5.1 points in transition per game.

GETTING PAINT TOUCHES
Kyle Smith has made it clear the Cougs thrive when everyone on the team gets paint touches. Throughout nonconference, Wazzu has outscored its opponents 428-276 in the key. Against Rhode Island, WSU scored a season-high 52 points in the paint and twice has scored 50+ points in the key. The Cougars are getting over 50% of their scoring from inside the key (38.9 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 25.1 points in the paint per game.

COUGS TOP 50 IN LATEST NET
In the 2023-24 season's NET rankings released by the NCAA, Dec. 27, Washington State checks in at No. 44. The Cougars are the 4th-highest Pac-12 team, ranked behind national No. 2 Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. WSU climbed as high as No. 24 early in nonconference play.

JAYLEN JOINS THE CLUB
Junior transfer Jaylen Wells scored his first-career points in the Nov. 19 win over Rhode Island. The former Division-II star and All-American finished with 10 points for his first double-digit performance. Since then, Wells has found his form, scoring in double figures four times, including the first double-double of his Division-I career with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars over UC Riverside.

KYMANY THE "FRENCH ARMY KNIFE"
Sophomore Kymany Houinsou does a little bit of everything and has taken over additional guard duties with Yesufu out, dishing out 31 assists. Houinsou enjoyed a double-digit performance in WSU's win over Portland State, his second of the year. Starting the last five games in a point guard role, the Frenchman has distributed 15 assists, grabbed six steals, blocked six shots, and grabbed 18 rebounds, in addition to 35 points scored.

JAK IS BACK
Senior Andrej Jakimovski returned as the Cougars' only 4-year veteran and entered the season fully healthy for the first time since his freshman year. Jakimovski exploded for a game-high 21 points in the season opener, one shy of his career high. The North Macedonian made his 90th game appearance and started his 50th career game against Utah Tech, Nov 24, and scored in double figures five times. He made five 3-pointers for the second time in his career and became the first Coug with five triples in a single game since Justin Powell made five at UCLA last February.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
The Cougars have used their height advantage on the defense glass to hold opponents to an average of 7.9 second-chance points per game. WSU boasts a +8.7 rebounding margin, which ranks 26th nationally, and scores 13.2 second chance points per game.

MULLINS MAGIC
Senior Jabe Mullins returned for his senior season as the Pac-12 Conference's leading 3-point shooter. Mullins, a former Washington High School State Player of the Year, finished atop the Conference in 2022-23 at 43% from beyond the arc with 55 made triples. In Thursday's nonconference finale against Boise State, Mullins scored a season-high 13 points and made two free throws in the win.

HOMEGROWN ROSTER
The Cougars boast six student-athletes on the 2023-24 roster from the state of Washington, including three former Washington State Players of the Year. Senior Jabe Mullins was named the WIAA 4A Player of the Year in 2020, followed by sophomore Dylan Darling in 2022, and incoming freshman Parker Gerrits last spring.

HOME SWEET HOME
Washington State will complete its entire nonconference schedule without a true road game. WSU will host seven nonconference games at Beasley Coliseum, while participating in four neutral-site games before kicking off conference play. The scheduling quirk marks the first time since the 2020-21 season that the Cougars do not play a true nonconference road game.

COACH KYLE - KING OF THE PNW
Since arriving on the Palouse prior to the 2019-20 season, WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith has dominated his fellow Pac-12 Pacific Northwest opponents. Against Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington, Coach Smith is a combined 15-5 and defeated all three regional rivals in succession for the first time since 1993-94 under Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars have swept the Huskies, Ducks, and Beavers in Pullman for two-straight seasons and are 6-1 at Beasley Coliseum against Conference PNW opponents under Coach Smith.

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