WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (13-5, 4-3) at CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (6-12, 2-5)
Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024
2 p.m. PT // Berkeley, Calif.
Haas Pavilion  //  11,858
Radio Coverage
Cougar Sports Network // KXLY 920AM
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
Television Coverage
Pac-12 Network
Roxy Bernstein // Don MacLean // Ashley Adamson

OPENING FIVE
1. The Cougars visit the East Bay to face California, Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. from Haas Pavilion, looking to extend an 8-game winning streak against the Bears
2. Myles Rice is the early candidate for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after dropping a WSU freshman record 35 points at Stanford, Thursday night. Rice is WSU's second-leading scorer at 15.8 ppg, the Pac-12 freshman leading scorer, and D-I's 5th-best scoring freshman
3. The Cougars hold opponents to just 40.2% shooting, second in the Pac-12 and No. 44 in Division-I, while offensively WSU shoots the ball at a 47.7% clip (4th), having shot over 50% eight times this season
4. Isaac Jones, the ESPN and Naismith reigning Player of the Week, exploded for 24 points at Stanford, his third-straight game with 24+ points and averages a team-best 15.8 ppg on 60.0% shooting (4th in Pac-12)
5. Oscar Cluff registered his first-career double-double in Division-I at Stanford, grabbing 14 rebounds, a season-high for a Coug, and scored 12 points in the win

SERIES HISTORY WITH CALIFORNIA
Washington State and California first met in 1917 and competed regularly as members of the Pacific Coast Conference. The Golden Bears hold an 83-59 advantage in the all-time series, while WSU has recent success, winning eight-straight against Cal. Last season, WSU achieved 3-straight wins at Haas Pavilion for the first time since winning 4-straight from 1980-83.

LAST TIME VS CALIFORNIA
TJ Bamba scored 17 points, DJ Rodman had 10 points and 11 rebounds and No. 5 seed WSU extended its winning streak to seven with a 69-52 victory over 12th-seeded California 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 and the second-straight season sweeping the Golden Bears over three games.

CURRENT COUGS VS CALIFORNIA
WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith holds an 8-2 record against UC-Berkeley during his Cougar tenure. None of the current student-athletes on the WSU roster have lost to the Golden Bears, having won eight-straight. Andrej Jakimovski and Jabe Mullins both scored in double figures in the Pac-12 Tournament victory.

COUGARS VS GOLDEN BEARS
Washington State visits Berkeley, Calif., to face the Golden Bears in the 143rd all-time meeting between the programs, Saturday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. California holds the all-time advantage with an 83-59 record, while Wazzu has had more recent success. The Cougars have won 8-straight against Cal, the longest winning streak in the series history.

LAST TIME OUT // AT STANFORD
WSU 89 // STAN 75 // JAN. 18, 2024 // STANFORD, CALIF.
Freshman Myles Rice finished with a season-high 35 points, Isaac Jones scored 24, and Washington State won for a third straight time at Maples Pavilion, dispatching Stanford with a wire-to-wire 89-75 victory on Thursday night. Rice buried 15 of 24 shots, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range, setting the freshman scoring record for the Cougars. He added eight assists and four steals. Jones sank 11 of 17 shots and grabbed five rebounds. The reigning conference player of the week has topped 20 points in three straight games. Jaylen Wells scored 13 on 5-for-8 shooting. Oscar Cluff totaled 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his first career double-double.

NEXT UP // HOSTING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Washington State returns to Pullman to host Utah, Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars began the Pac-12 season in Salt Lake City, falling to the Runnin' Utes 58-80. The Wednesday night matchup will also be Greek Night, and WSU Athletics will celebrate it's student-athlete all-academic teams.

NORCAL CLEAN SWEEP
Kyle Smith and the Cougs have found success in the Bay Area recently. The Cougars will look to complete a sweep of the northern California Pac-12 schools for a third-straight season after winning at Cal and Stanford each of the last two seasons. WSU bested the Cardinal in three-straight seasons for the first time since 1976-1980, when George Raveling won 5-straight, and extended its winning streak against Cal to eight consecutive victories.

COUGS CLAIM BOTH WEEKLY CONFERENCE AWARDS
For the first time in Washington State history, the Cougars earned both the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week honors. Isaac Jones was named the Pac-12's Player of the Week after a pair of 20-point double-doubles, becoming the first Coug since Noah Williams earned the weekly honor, Feb. 22, 2021. Myles Rice earned his third nod as the top freshman in the Conference, becoming the second-most decorated WSU freshman in history behind Mouhamed Gueye, who earned five Freshman of the Week awards in 2021-22.

MYLES SETS WSU FRESHMAN SCORING RECORD
The reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week continued to make a strong case for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, dropping a WSU freshman single-game record 35 points at Stanford. Rice scored more points than any freshman in the Pac-12 this year.

JONES CLAIMS NATIONAL ACCOLADES
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones has taken a leading role as the Cougars leading scorer at 15.8 ppg (9th in Pac-12) and top rebounder with 7.6 rpg (fourth in Pac-12). Last week, the Spanaway, Wash., native recorded back-to-back double-doubles with 26 points and 11 rebounds in a win at Southern California, before scoring 24 points with a season-high 13 rebounds in a win over then-No. 8 Arizona. The performance earned Jones several national player of the week awards, including ESPN, Naismith, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Pac-12 Conference. Jones recognition as Pac-12 Player of the Week marked the first Cougar honoree since Noah Williams was named the Conference Player of the Week, Feb. 22, 2021. Most recently, Jones scored 24 points in the win at Stanford, marking his 3-straight game scoring at least 24 points.

ISAAC IS HIM
In his most recent outing, Jones picked up his fifth double-doubles as a Coug. Jones shoots the ball at a .595 clip (94 of 158),  fourth in the Pac-12 and 32nd nationally. Jones has excelled on the glass and at the free throw line. The fifth-year senior is 72 of 98 at the charity stripe, going 20 of 25 in the last two games. Jones has also led the Cougars in rebounding nine times.

RICE CONTINUES STELLAR START TO FRESHMAN YEAR
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice has emerged as WSU's second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, the highest scoring freshman in the Pac-12 Conference, and the fifth-highest scoring freshman in the country. Rice has scored in double figures 14 times this year. 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. The Columbia, S.C. native became the second-most decorated freshman in Cougar history, behind Gueye with five Freshman of the Week awards in 2021-22.

MYLES MIXES IT UP
Myles Rice has shown his skills with the ball, dominating ball control on both the offensive and defensive ends. Rice dished out a career-high eight assists at Stanford and has distributed at least four assists in five-straight games. The standout freshman leads the Cougs with 65 assists (3.6 apg) and also averages a team-best 1.8 steals per game (33 total).

STIFLING DEFENSE
The Cougars' defense has fit Coach Smith's mold of winning with grit, as WSU ranks No. 2 in the Pac-12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.402), No. 4 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.327), and leads the League in blocks per game (5.5). Wazzu's defensive field goal prowess ranks 44th in the country. The Cougs limit opponents to 66.5 ppg, second in the Pac-12 and 65th nationally. In the win over No. 8 Arizona, the Cougs held the Wildcats to their lowest output of the season.

JAYLEN JOINS THE CLUB
Junior transfer Jaylen Wells has found his form midway through his first Division-I season, starting the last two games. Wells has enjoyed double-digit performances in five of his first six Pac-12 games, averaging 11.3 points per game in Conference play. The former Division-II star and All-American scored 10 points in a win over Rhode Island to open his WSU account back in November. Since then, Wells has found his form, scoring in double figures seven times, including the first double-double of his Division-I career with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars over UC Riverside.

KRYPTONITE KYLE
Kyle Smith is the only head coach to hold Tommy Lloyd's Arizona Wildcats to under 35% field goal shooting on multiple occasions. Arizona has only shot under 35% five times under Lloyd, and WSU is the only school to claim multiple clampdowns against the 'Cats. With the win over then-No. 8 Arizona, WSU claimed wins over a top-10 team in back-to-back seasons since the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. WSU snapped a 14-game home losing streak to U of A and secured wins over Arizona in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early into conference play, boasting 99 blocks, 5.5 per game, to lead the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars' average is 15th nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 17 in the country according to KenPom.com's effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 25 rejections. Five Cougs have 10+ blocks each (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, Jakimovski, and 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.

NOT SO FAST...
Fast break points have been hard to come by for Wazzu's opponents with just 97 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 9.8 to 5.4 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. Wazzu has outscored its opponents 676-484 in the key. Against Stanford, WSU scored a season-high 58 points in the paint and three times has scored 50+ points in the key. The Cougars are getting just shy of 50% of their scoring from inside the key (37.6 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 26.89 points in the paint per game.

CLUFF CLIMBS TO DIVISION-I
Junior college transfer Oscar Cluff has come to life in Conference play. After 16 points in a loss at Colorado, Cluff led the Cougs with a career-high 20 points  and matched a career-high with team-best eight rebounds against Oregon State. Most recently, the Australian registered his first career double-double with a WSU single-game season high 14 rebounds and 12 points. Cluff sits sixth in the Pac-12, just behind Jones, with a 57.3 FG percentage, and blocks one shot per game (tied for 10th in Conference).

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 45 assists. At USC last Wednesday, Houinsou played in his 50th collegiate game. Houinsou enjoyed a double-digit performance in WSU's win over Portland State, his second of the year.

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 16-7 and defeated all three regional rivals in back-to-back-to-back succession last year for the first time since 1993-94 under Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars swept the Huskies, Ducks, and Beavers in Pullman for two-straight seasons and are 11-2 at Beasley Coliseum against Conference PNW opponents under Coach Smith.

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, Smith's first season. Washington State completed its entire nonconference schedule without a true road game for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

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 100th game appearance and started his 60th game against Oregon, Jan. 6, and has scored in double figures eight times. Jakimovski dropped 15 points in the win over the Beavers, marking his 33rd double-digit performance of his career.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
The Cougars have used their height advantage all season, outrebounding opponents in all but two games. On the defensive glass, WSU holds opponents to an average of 7.7 second-chance points per game. In the loss at Utah, Dec. 29, the Cougs grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds, the most in two years. WSU boasts a +5.9 rebounding margin, which ranks 50th nationally, and scores 11.8 second chance points per game.

WATTS WORKS INTO LINEUP
True freshman Isaiah Watts had his best game of his young career against Oregon, Jan. 6. The West Seattle native finished with a career-high 10 points and matched a career high with three rebounds. Watts  matched a career-high with 21 minutes played in the win over USC, adding his first-career steal and block in Conference play.

SMOOTH SHOOTING
The Cougars have gotten off to a hot start from the floor, shooting above .500 in eight games. The Cougs hold a 7-1 record when 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.

TOP HALF OF THE PAC
The Cougars finished fifth in the Pac-12 last season, 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. Smith is the only coach in Washington State history to post a winning record in the Pac-12 era. 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. In the Pac-X Conference era, WSU has posted 14 winning conference records.

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 the Dec. 21 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.

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.

MYLES' MIRACLE RETURN
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice waited two seasons on the sideline before getting to play his first college basketball game. After redshirting his true freshman year during 2021-22, Rice was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma prior to the 2022-23 season and underwent chemotherapy treatment throughout the academic year. Last spring, Myles received his last chemotherapy treatment and was declared in remission. The Columbia, S.C. native got the starting nod in the season opener and played 29 minutes in the win.

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.

GUEYE HIGHEST COUG DRAFT PICK SINCE KLAY THOMPSON
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, an All-Pac-12 First Team selection was drafted in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft at No. 39 by the Charlotte Hornets. Gueye, who led the Pac-12 Conference with 15 double-doubles and grabbed more offensive rebounds than any player in the Pac-12, was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, where he played significant minutes throughout NBA Summer League and made his NBA regular season debut last weekend.

RING THAT BELL, MYLES IS CANCER FREE
On March 9, 2023, 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 in June. He received a medical redshirt for this season and entered the 2023-24 season with four years of eligibility, plus a COVID relief exemption.