vs Oregon (18-13, 12-8) | Thursday, March 9 | 2:30 p.m. PT | T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
  Live Stats | StatBroadcast
  Watch | Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein & Don MacLean)
  Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)

OPENING FIVE
1. WSU streaks into the quarterfinals on a 7-game winning streak to face Oregon at the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament. The Cougs and Ducks are scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. PT from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with coverage on Pac-12 Network. WSU and Oregon split their series this season, falling to the Ducks in Eugene, Dec. 1 before returning the favor in Pullman, Feb. 19.
2. Last time out, WSU beat 12th-seeded California, 69-52, in the opening round of the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament. WSU has won its opening round matchup each of the last two seasons for the first time in 15 years. Five Cougars scored in double figures, led by TJ Bamba with 17 points and DJ Rodman with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jabe Mullins added 11 points, Jakimovski and Gueye each scored 10 points.
3. The Cougars average 8.9 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 41.2%, followed by DJ Rodman in 10th in the Pac-12 with a 37.9% clip.
4. Mouhamed Gueye leads the Pac-12 in double-doubles, with 15 double-doubles this season. Last week at Washington, Gueye recorded his fourth-straight double-double, marking eight in the last 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 8.5 rpg (third in Pac-12). Gueye has grabbed more offensive rebounds than any other player in the Pac-12 with 111 offensive boards, ranked 15th nationally at 3.47 offensive rebounds per game.
5. TJ Bamba has emerged as Wazzu's leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, eighth in the Conference. Bamba scored 10 of his 17 points against Cal in the second half. 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 22 times this season, including six games with 20+ points, and has led WSU is scoring 11 times.

COUGARS VS DUCKS
WSU streaks into the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals on a 7-game winning streak to face fourth-seeded Oregon in the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament. The Cougs and Golden Bears are scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. PT from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with coverage on Pac-12 Network. WSU split the season series with Oregon, falling to the Ducks in early December at Eugene, before returning the favor with a win at home in February.

LAST TIME OUT – VS CAL
WSU 69 - CAL 52 | MARCH 8, 2023 | LAS VEGAS
TJ Bamba scored 17 points, DJ Rodman had 10 points and 11 rebounds and No. 5 seed Washington State extended its winning streak to seven with a 69-52 victory over 12th-seeded California on Wednesday in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament. It was the second straight season Washington State beat Cal in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Cougars will look for their second straight win over the fourth-seeded Ducks on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

NEXT UP
The Cougars look to advance to the Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals for the fourth-time in program history and the first time since the 2008 Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles.  Washington State has never won two-consecutive games at the Conference tournament and would make history with a win to advance to the semifinals. WSU hopes to improve its resume for a postseason berth. The winner of the WSU-Oregon matchup will face the winner of the quarterfinal between UCLA and  Colorado. Tipoff in that semifinal is scheduled for Friday, March 10, at 6 p.m. from T-Mobile Arena.

STREAKING INTO SIN CITY
WSU enters the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament on a 7-game winning streak, 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 are one of two programs in the Power 6 conferences with a 7+-game-winning streak, keeping company with No. 2 UCLA. The top-ranked Houston Cougars and No. 9 Gonzaga are the only other two major programs with active winning streaks longer than Washington State.

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 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.

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, ranking 15th nationally (3.47 orpg). Gueye is averaging 14.3 points per game (ninth in Pac-12) and 8.5 rebounds per game (third in Pac-12). Nine times this year, he has grabbed five or more offensive rebounds. Last week 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 15.7 points per game, eighth in the Pac-12. Bamba has scored in double figures 22 times this season, including six games with 20+ points.

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 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 41.2% and DJ Rodman is 10th in the Pac-12 with a 37.9% clip. Twelve times this season WSU has made 10+ threes and are 9-3 in those games.

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.

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 3-13 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. The Cougars played in Vegas earlier this season, falling to then-undefeated UNLV, 70-74, in the Las Vegas Clash at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Dec. 10.

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.

TURNING THE TIDE
After beginning the season 2-6 in two-possession games, WSU has now won four-straight games decided by 6 points or fewer. The Cougars are now 6-7 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 18 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 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Powell is averaging 2.88 assists per game, 15th in the Pac-12. He is also third in the Conference as a 3-point shooter at 41.2% (73-of-177). 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 16th in the country and best 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 17.5 attempts from deep per game - best in the Pac-12 and third among major conferences. Against Conference opponents, Wazzu is holding teams to 32.0% from 3-point range (fifth 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.

SLOW AND STEADY
The Cougs run one of the slowest offenses in the country, with the 329th tempo in the country, according to KenPom. Despite the pace of play, WSU boasts a top-60 offensive efficiency (60th) and defensive efficiency (58th).

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 5.8 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 132 shots at the charity stripe, making 97 of his attempts, eighth-most in the Pac-12.