vs Eastern Washington (22-10, 16-2) | Tuesday, March 14 | 8 p.m. PT | Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Wash.)
  Live Stats | StatBroadcast
  Watch | ESPNU (Eric Rothman & Ben Braun)
  Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)

OPENING FIVE
1. WSU returns to the NIT for the second year in a row. WSU earned the No. 4 seed in the 2023 National Invitational Tournament and will host Big Sky's regular season champion Eastern Washington in the opening round, Tuesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. from Beasley Coliseum with coverage on ESPNU. The meeting will be the 70th all-time between the Cougs and Eagles, after meeting earlier this season, Nov. 21. The Cougars dominated that game, 82-56, with 8-made 3-pointers from Jabe Mullins, four players in double figures, and WSU made 15 triples.
2. Last time out, WSU bowed out of the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals with a 70-75 loss to Oregon. TJ Bamba led all scorers with 19 points, as the Cougs erased a 19-point first-half deficit, reclaiming the lead late in the second half, before ultimately fallling to the fourth-seeded Ducks. WSU beat Cal in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament for the second-straight season. With the win, the Cougars guaranteed a finish at or above .500 for the fourth-straight season, the first time in program history a WSU coach led the team to .500+ records in his first four years.
3. The Cougars average 9.0 made 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 and eighth among major conference programs. Individually, three Cougars are amongst the top-10 shooters in the Conference, led by Jabe Mullins with the second-best 3-point percentage at 42.6% (52-of-122). Justin Powell sits behind him in third at 42.0%, followed by DJ Rodman at ninth in the Pac-12 with a 37.8% clip.
4. All-Pac-12 First Team selection Mouhamed Gueye leads the Pac-12 in double-doubles, with 15 double-doubles this season. In the regular season finale at Washington, Gueye recorded his fourth-straight double-double, marking eight in 10 games. At USC, Feb. 2, Gueye dropped a career-high 31 points. The Senegalese sophomore is averaging 14.3 ppg (ninth in Pac-12) and 8.4 rpg (fourth in Pac-12). Gueye has grabbed more offensive rebounds than any other player in the Pac-12 with 111 offensive boards, and tied for 14th nationally.
5. TJ Bamba has emerged as Wazzu's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, eighth in the Conference. Against Washington, Bamba scored a career-high 36 points, for the first 30-point game of his career in the WSU win. Bamba has scored in double figures 23 times this season, including six games with 20+ points, and has led WSU is scoring 12 times.

COUGARS VS EAGLES
WSU returns to the National Invitation Tournament for the second-straight season to face the Eastern Washington Eagles, Tuesday, March 14 at 8 p.m. inside Beasley Coliseum with coverage on ESPNU. The meeting will be the 70th all-time between the Cougs and Eags, after meeting earlier this season, Nov. 21. The Cougars dominated that game, 82-56, with 8-made 3-pointers from Jabe Mullins, four players in double figures, and WSU made 15 triples. The programs haven't met twice in the same season since 1956, playing Dec. 28 and 29 in Pullman and Cheney with WSU winning both. The all-time series dates back to January 1907 between Washington State College and Cheney Normal. WSU has won 7-of-the-last-8 with EWU.

LAST TIME OUT – VS OREGON
WSU 70 - ORE 75 | MARCH 9, 2023 | LAS VEGAS
Keeshawn Barthelemy and Jermaine Couisnard each scored 17 points and Oregon had a 19-point lead erased before closing on a 7-0 run to beat WSU 75-70 in the Pac-12 Tournament. Bamba finished with 19 points. Justin Powell added 15, Mouhamed Gueye had 14 and Andrej Jakimovski 10. The Cougars shot 44%, including 11 of 23 from 3-point range. WSU trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half but rallied late to get within 38-30 at the break.

NEXT UP
The Cougars look to advance to the second round of the NIT for the second-straight season and the sixth time in program history.  Washington State would face the winner of top-seeded Oklahoma State and Youngstown State this weekend with the time and location to be determined.

WSU IN THE NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
The Cougars bid to the 2023 NIT marks the program's seventh all-time appearance in the postseason event. Twice Wazzu has reached the semfinals, last season in 2022 and during the 2011 NIT. WSU holds a 10-6 record all-time in the event. WSU earned back-to-back postseason berths for the first time since reaching the Sweet Sixteen in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and earned a bid to the 2009 NIT the following season.

GUEYE TAKING OVER THE CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, an All-Pac-12 First Team selection and All-Freshman honoree last season, leads the Pac-12 Conference with 15 double-doubles this year. Gueye has grabbed more offensive rebounds than any player in the Pac-12 with 111 offensive boards, tied for 14th nationally. Gueye is averaging 14.3 points per game (ninth in Pac-12) and 8.4 rebounds per game (fourth in Pac-12). Nine times this year, he has grabbed five or more offensive rebounds. In the regular season finale at Washington, Gueye tallied his fourth-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, marking 8-in-10 games with a double-double. At USC, Feb. 2, Gueye dropped a career-high 31 points. Nineteen times this year Gueye has led the Cougs in rebounding.

BAMBA BRINGS THE BUSINESS
TJ Bamba, an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, scored a career-high 36 points at Washington, March 2, his first career 30-point performance. Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, eighth in the Pac-12. Bamba has scored in double figures 23 times this season, including six games with 20+ points.

ALL-PAC-12 SELECTIONS
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye and junior TJ Bamba both earned 2022-23 Pac-12 All-Conference honors, the Pac-12 Conference announced last Tuesday. Gueye was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention, while Bamba garnered All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention. With two honorees, Washington State has garnered multiple all-conference selections for the third-consecutive season and fourth time in the last five seasons. Gueye is WSU's first Pac-12 First Team selection since CJ Elleby earned First Team honors on the 2019 Pac-12 All-Conference teams.

BOMBS AWAY
The Cougars aren't afraid to pull the trigger from deep. As a team, WSU makes 9.0 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 and eighth among major conference programs. Individually, three Cougars are amongst the top-10 shooters in the Conference, led by Jabe Mullins in second with a 42.6% (52-of-122) clip from beyond the arc. Justin Powell sits just behind him in third at 42.0% and DJ Rodman is ninth in the Pac-12 with a 37.8% clip. Thirteen times this season WSU has made 10+ threes and are 9-4 in those games.

KYLE STARTING WITH SUCCESS
Kyle Smith is the first head coach in Washington State men's basketball history to finish with a .500+ record in his first four seasons on the Palouse. Tony Bennett posted three-consecutive winning seasons before leaving the program.

TOP HALF OF THE PAC
The Cougars finished fifth in the Pac-12, earning Kyle Smith's highest finish in four seasons at WSU. For the first time since the 2007-08 season, Wazzu finished with back-to-back winning Conference records. It's the first time WSU finished in the top half of the Pac-10/12 back-to-back years since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

RING THAT BELL, MYLES IS CANCER FREE
Last Thursday, Myles Rice received his final chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He rung the victory bell at the treatment center in Moscow, Idaho and was declared cancer-free and in remission. He received a medical redshirt for this season and will enter the 2023-24 season with four years of eligibility.

STREAKING INTO SIN CITY
WSU entered the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals last week in Las Vegas on a 7-game winning streak. It marked the longest Pac-12 winning streak of Kyle Smith's tenure, and the longest Conference winning streak since winning 7-straight in 1982-83 under George Raveling (Jan. 8, 1983-Jan. 29, 1983). The Cougars were one of two programs in the Power 6 conferences with a 7+-game-winning streak, keeping company with eventual tournament champion and now-No. 7 UCLA.

TURNING THE TIDE
After beginning the season 2-6 in two-possession games, WSU has now won four of the last five games decided by 6 points or fewer. The Cougars are now 6-8 in two-possession games. Ten of the Cougars' 17 victories this season have come by at least 10+ points. Closing out close games is crucial for the Cougs, who lost to Utah, No. 11 Baylor, UNLV, No. 11 UCLA, Colorado, and No. 6 Arizona by a combined 20 points. Washington State's smallest margin of victory came Jan. 14 against Stanford, a 60-59 nailbiter and the smallest margin of victory in the Kyle Smith era (first since Santa Clara Dec. 17, 2016).

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Cougars have made significant adjustments in ball control throughout the season, reducing the number of turnovers per game from 13.9 in the first 14 games and just one game with fewer than 10 turnovers, to 10.6 turnovers per game in the last 19 games and seven games with fewer than 10 turnovers.

POWELL'S PERFECT PASSING
Junior transfer Justin Powell has been taking care of the rock all season, with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Powell is averaging 2.82 assists per game, 15th in the Pac-12. He is also third in the Conference as a 3-point shooter at 42.0% (76-of-181). Fifteen times this season Powell has committed zero turnovers. Three times this season Powell has tallied 7+ 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.

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.

DEFENDING THE PERIMETER
In addition to their offensive prowess from beyond the arc, the Cougars are also a top defensive team around the perimeter. WSU is tied for 18th in the country and top in the Conference in three-point field goal defense, limiting opponents to 5.6 made 3-pointers per game. The Cougar backcourt is also quick to run shooters off the line, limiting opponents to 17.6 attempts from deep per game - best in the Pac-12 and fourth among major conferences. Against Conference opponents, Wazzu is holding teams to 32.4% from 3-point range (sixth in Pac-12).

WHAT, NO LOVE?
Washington State is one of only two programs in the Conference that did not receive a Pac-12 Weekly Performance Award, as voted by members of the media – the other being Stanford. This comes despite a league-leading 15 double-doubles from Mouhamed Gueye and the Pac-12's leader in offensive rebounds, as well as three Cougars in the Conference's top-10 3-point shooting and the second-highest single-game performance (Bamba, 36 points) in the Pac-12 this season. The last time Washington State did not receive a weekly honor over an entire season was 2017-18, before there were freshman honors, and WSU finished 4-14 and 11th in Conference play.

JAK IS BACK
Andrej Jakimovski is finding his form, as the North Macedonian junior returned to the starting lineup after missing the first 10 games of the season with a foot injury. Jakimovski has scored in double figures six of the last seven games. Against Arizona State, Jan. 28, Jakimovski scored a career-high 22 points, leading WSU with his first 20-point game of his career. The North Macedonian grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in the win at Washington, March 2. Jakimovski has made four or more 3-pointers three times. The sharp shooter made 5-of-6 from 3-point range in the win vs Stanford, matching a career-high for made field goals from beyond the arc. Jaki became the third Coug this season to make 5+ 3-pointers in a single game.

SLOW AND STEADY
The Cougs run one of the slowest offenses in the country, with the 327th tempo in the country, according to KenPom. Despite the pace of play, WSU boasts a top-65 offensive efficiency (63rd) and defensive efficiency (62nd).

RODMAN'S RETURN
During WSU's Senior Day celebration ahead of tipoff against Oregon,  Feb. 19, senior forward DJ Rodman announced he would be utilizing his COVID eligibility rule and returning to WSU for a fifth season in 2023-24. Since returning for his senior season, Rodman has more than doubled his scoring output, while pulling in 5.7 rpg.

TJ'S JUNIOR JUMP
Bamba has proven to be a formidable force to contain, doubling his scoring output since his sophomore season. The junior has also doubled his assists per game and increased his rebounding average. Bamba gets to the free throw line more than any other Cougar. The Bronx native has attempted 136 shots at the charity stripe, making 101 of his attempts, eighth-most in the Pac-12.

COUGS CREATING SECOND CHANCES
The Cougars have become a prominent offensive rebounding team, leading to second-chance scoring opportunities. Washington State averages 10.9 offensive rebounds per game, which has led to an average of 11.1 second-chance points per game, compared to just 8.7 second-chance points per game for Cougar opponents. Wazzu leads the Pac-12 Conference in limiting opponents' offensive rebounds, offering up just 8.4 offensive rebounds per game on average.

TOUGH SCHEDULE & TOUGH LUCK
According to the KenPom adjusted strength of schedule, Washington State has played the 32nd toughest schedule in the country. WSU is ranked 57th in the March 13 KenPom ratings. 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 325th-luckiest team out of 363 ranked programs.

GETTING TO THE GLASS
Despite the Cougars lack of frontcourt experience, they hold a 3.42 rebounding margin this season (sixth in the Conference) and nine times they have posted a 10+ rebounding margin or better. 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.

RODMAN'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
Despite missing two games to illness, DJ Rodman has scored in double figures seven times since Christmas, including a season-high 19 points in the Cougs' 1-point loss to No. 11/8 UCLA. The Newport Beach, Calif., native has averaged 10.7 points per game after averaging just 4.6 ppg through his first 12 games. Rodman is shooting 43.2% from 3-point range over that 18-game span (35-of-81).  The senior veteran is ninth in the Conference in 3-point shooting with a 37.8% clip.

MULLINS MAGIC
After a four-game absence in the early season with minor knee injury, junior transfer Jabe Mullins has returned as one of the country's top 3-point shooters. He is second in the Pac-12 with a 42.6% (52-of-122) 3-point field goal percentage. Eight times this season he has made 3+ shots from beyond the arc. Against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, Mullins made eight 3-point field goals - the most made 3s by a Pac-12 player this season and tied for third-most by a high-major player in Division I.  The Snoqualmie, Wash., native also rarely misses from the line, having missed just four since arriving at WSU (27-of-31) at 87.1%.

KYLE'S QUICK CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With WSU's win over California in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament, the Cougs secured a 7-game winning streak against Conference opponents for the first time since January 1983 under George Raveling. The Cougars also completed a road sweep over the Bay Area schools for the second-straight season for the first time since the 1981-83 seasons. Coach Smith has won 35 Conference game in four seasons, more than any other WSU coach in their first four years (Bennetts - 31) and boasts a better Pac winning percentage in the first four years of tenure (.455) than any previous WSU coach (Bennetts - .431). The Cougars secured back-to-back winning conference records for the first time since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.