WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (7-1) vs GRAMBLING STATE TIGERS (2-6)
Sunday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. PT
Pullman, Washington
Beasley Coliseum // 11,671
Radio Coverage
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
WSU Learfield Network
Television Coverage
Pac-12 Network & Washington
Elise Woodward & Eldridge Recasner

OPENING FIVE
1. The Cougars conclude their nonconference home schedule in a Sunday evening clash with Grambling State with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m. from Pullman
2. Myles Rice continued an incredible start to his freshman season, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after dropping a career-high 28 points in the win over EWU - Rice has scored 20+ points twice and is WSU's leading scorer at 16.3 ppg
3. The Cougs boast a 50.1% field goal percentage, having shot over 50% five times this season - the mark is third in Pac-12 and 21st in the country, while holding opponents to 36.2%, sixth in Division-I
4. WSU is one of the best rim protection frontcourts in the country, averaging 6.8 blocks per game, tied for 6th in the country, while KenPom ranks WSU No. 1 nationally in effective block percentage. Five Cougs have at least 7 blocks each (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, Jakimovski, Jones)
5. Jaylen Wells registered his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win over UC Riverside - Wells is the second Coug with a double-double after Isaac Jones with two this year

LAST TIME VS GRAMBLING STATE
In a strange scheduling quirk, the last time the Cougs played Grambling State was following a win over UC Riverside back in the 2011-12 season. In the 2011 matchup with GSU, Brock Motum had the first double-double of his career, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, six on the offensive boards. Faisal Aden scored 12 points to lead Wazzu to a 69-37 victory over Grambling State.  DaVonte Lacy added 10 points for Washington State.

CURRENT COUGS VS GRAMBLING STATE
WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith has never faced the Tigers in 13 seasons in charge of a Division-I program. No student-athletes on the Cougars' 2023-24 roster have faced GSU in their career.

COUGARS VS TIGERS
Washington State concludes its nonconference home schedule against Grambling State, Sunday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. The Cougars final home nonconference game, hosting the Tigers, marks the fourth all-time meeting against the Tigers and third in Pullman. WSU and GSU last met in November 2011 with WSU winning 69-37. In a scheduling quirk the last time the Cougars faced Grambling State, they were coming off a win over UC Riverside.

LAST TIME OUT // VS UC RIVERSIDE
WSU 86 // UCR 49 // DEC. 6, 2023 // PULLMAN, WASH.
Jaylen Wells scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Isaac Jones scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Washington State never trailed Wednesday night as the Cougars beat UC Riverside 86-49. Jones hit two free throws to open the scoring, Wells hit a 3-pointer to make it 11-2 about 5 minutes in and eight different Cougars scored during a 23-0 run that made it 34-6 when Isaiah Watts made a 3 with 6:48 left in the first half. The Cougars made 35 of 71 from the field while limiting UC Riverside to 27% (14 of 15) shooting and outrebounded the Highlanders 48-28. Washington State had a 19-4 advantage in points-off-turnovers and was plus-11 (21-10) in second-chance points.

NEXT UP // SANTA CLARA
The Cougars travel for the second time this season, visiting Phoenix to face Santa Clara in the 2023 Jerry Colangelo Classic at Footprint Center. The Cougs and Broncos last met in the opening round of 2022 National Invitation Tournament, as WSU beat SC 63-50 in Pullman.

RICE NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice put together the best scoring performance of the year by a Coug in last Monday's win over Eastern Washington. The South Carolina native dropped 28 points after starting the game with 6-straight made 3-pointers and followed with 19 points in Saturday's win over PSU. The performance earned Rice his first career Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor. Rice has scored in double figures in six of his first eight games and is WSU's leading scorer at 16.3  ppg. In Wednesday's win, Rice dished four assists and finished 2 of 2 at the free throw line, expanding his consecutive made free throw streak to 11. Twice Rice has eclipsed 20 points, making him one of three freshmen in the League with multiple 20-point performances.

COUGS TOP 25 IN NET RANKING
In the 2023-24 season's NET rankings released by the NCAA, Dec. 8, Washington State checks in at No. 24. The Cougars are the second-highest Pac-12 team, ranked behind national No. 1 Arizona at third in the NET rankings. The Cougar women's basketball team is also currently No. 24 in the NET ranking, making Washington State the only Pac-12 university with both basketball programs in the NET top 25. The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, include the Team Value Index (TVI), which is a result-based feature that rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home, as well as an adjusted net efficiency rating. The adjusted efficiency is a team's net efficiency, adjusted for strength of opponent and location (home/away/neutral) across all games played.

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 (.362), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.265), and blocks per game (6.8.). Wazzu's defensive field goal prowess ranks sixth in the country and 19th from beyond the arc (.265). The Cougs limit opponents to 61.5 ppg, second in the Pac-12 and 16th nationally. WSU's scoring margin (+18.6) is 18th-best in America and rebounding margin (+9.1) checks in at No. 26 in D-I.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early in nonconference play, boasting 54 blocks, 6.8 per game, to lead the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars' average is tied for sixth nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 1 in the country according to KenPom.com's effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 13 rejections. Five Cougs have at least seven 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 five of their first eight games. Wazzu is third in the Pac-12 Conference with a .501 team field goal percentage, trailing No. 1 Arizona and Colorado in shooting, and ranks 21st 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 31 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 9.9 to 3.9 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 336 to 186 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 (42.0 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 23.3 points in the paint per game.

JONES JOINS DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones registered his second Cougar double-double in the Dec. 2 win over Portland State, scoring 27 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. The Spanaway, Washington native led the Cougars in rebounding both games last week and ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with 7.4 rebounds per game. Jones is the Cougs' second leading scorer with 14.9 points per game, tied for 13th in the Conference.

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. 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. Jakimovski scored 20 points for the second time this season and the third time in his career.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
The Cougars have used their height advantage on the defense glass to hold opponents to an average of 8.6 second-chance points per game. WSU boasts a +9.1 rebounding margin, which ranks 21st nationally, and scores 13.6 second chance points per game.

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. Most recently, Wells tallied the first double-double of his Division-I career with career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars over UC Riverside.

KYMANY CAREER HIGHS IN CONNECTICUT
Sophomore Kymany Houinsou enjoyed a double-digit performance in the opening half of WSU's win in Connecticut, scoring 11 of his career-high 13 points in the first period. Houinsou's performance included career-highs in field goals made and attempted, while the Frenchman added three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one blocked shot. Houinsou has taken over additional guard duties with Yesufu out, dishing out five assists in each of the last two games.

WATTS WORKS INTO LINEUP
True freshman Isaiah Watts had his best game of his young career in Wednesday's win over UC Riverside. The West Seattle native finished with a career-high eight points, including a pair of crucial 3-pointers to cap a 23-0 run in the first half. Watts added two dime assists in transition and picked up his first career block.

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.

TWO COUGS SIGN TO PLAY FOR WAZZU
WSU announced two new Cougars who signed National Letters of Intent to play college basketball in Pullman next fall. Evan Stinson signed as the No. 2 prospect in Washington State, a small forward from Cheney, Washington. Marcus Wilson, a native of Albuquerque, signed as a combo guard currently competing at highly-regarded Bella Vista Prep.

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