WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (10-5, 1-3) at SOUTHERN CAL (8-7, 2-2)
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024
7:30 p.m. PT // Los Angeles, Calif.
Galen Center  // 10,258
Radio Coverage
Cougar Sports Network // KXLY 920AM
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
Television Coverage
FS1 // FOX Sports App
Jordan Kent & Casey Jacobsen

OPENING FIVE
1. WSU begins the week in Los Angeles to play USC, Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. from the Galen Center and live on FS1, the first half of a split road-home week
2. Myles Rice continued an incredible start to his freshman season, the 2-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week is WSU's leading scorer at 14.6 ppg, shooting 45.2%, while dishing out a team-high 47 assists and grabbing 25 steals
3. The Cougars hold opponents to just 40.0% shooting, second in the Pac-12 and No. 49 in Division-I, offensively WSU shoots the ball at a 47.3% clip, having shot over 50% seven times this season
4. Isaac Jones has stepped into the leading role as WSU's second-best scorer at 14.1 ppg (15th in Pac-12) and top rebounder at 7.1 rpg, which ranks seventh in the Pac-12, while Jones shoots the ball at 59.4%, fourth in the Conference
5. Three Cougs are shooting over 50% from the floor, led by WSU bigs Chinyelu (.649), Jones (.594),  and Cluff (.586), with Rice close behind at 45.2%

SERIES HISTORY WITH USC
Washington State and Southern California have played each other since a Pacific Coast Conference playoff game back in December 1948. Since then, the Trojans hold an 82-49 advtange in the all-time series.

LAST TIME VS USC
Boogie Ellis scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half to offset a big night by Mouhamed Gueye and USC pulled away late for an 80-70 victory in Los Angeles. Drew Peterson finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Gueye finished with a career-high 31 points for the Cougars. He grabbed 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. Justin Powell buried a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead 65-63 with 4:29 left. Peterson hit the second of two free throws, Kobe Johnson followed with a 3-pointer and the Trojans never trailed again. Current USC fifth-year senior DJ Rodman did not travel or play for the Cougars with illness.

CURRENT COUGS VS USC
WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith has only beaten Southern Cal once during his tenure on the Palouse, holding a 1-7 record against the Trojans. Smith and WSU beat USC in Pullman on New Year's Day 2023. Five Cougs scored in double figures, including Jabe Mullins. Former Coug and current Trojan DJ Rodman scored 16 points in the win and did not play in L.A. Andrej Jakimovski and Kymany Houinsou are the only other Cougs on the roster who have faced Southern Cal.

COUGARS VS TROJANS
Washington State visits the City of Angels to face Southern California, Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Galen Center with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT on FS1. The Cougars have beaten the Trojans once during Coach Smith's tenure, holding a 1-7 record. Last year on New Year's Day, WSU beat USC by 10 behind five Cougs in double figures. The Trojans hold the all-time series advantage 82-49 and have won seven-straight at the Galen Center.

LAST TIME OUT // VS OREGON
WSU 84 // ORE 89 // JAN. 6, 2024 // PULLMAN, WASH.
Brennan Rigsby hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 to help Oregon hold off Washington State 89-84 on Saturday night. Rigsby made 7 of 9 shots for the Ducks. Jermaine Couisnard finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Kario Oquendo scored 15 off the bench on 5-for-5 shooting, four from 3-point range. Jackson Shelstad pitched in with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Myles Rice led the Cougars with 22 points and matched his career-high with seven assists. Jaylen Wells had 15 points and Andrej Jakimovski hit three 3-pointers and scored 13. Isaac Jones added 10 points and five boards, while freshman Isaiah Watts scored 10 with eight assists off the bench.

NEXT UP // HOSTING #8 ARIZONA
The Cougars return to Pullman for the second half of the split week, hosting No. 8 Arizona, Saturday, Jan. 13 at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougs and Wildcats will tip off at 3 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network. The Cougars split last year's series with Arizona, defeating then-No. 4 Arizona in Tucson for the program's first top-5 win in history. The Wildcats returned the favor in Pullman.

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 leading scorer at 14.6 points per game. Rice has scored in double figures 11 times this year. Rice is currently the country's 10th-best freshmen scorer and the third-highest-scoring Pac-12 freshmen. 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 dished out a career-high seven assists against Oregon for the second time this year. Rice leads the Cougs with 47 assists and also averages a team-best 1.7 steals per game.

JONES STEPS INTO LEADING ROLE
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones has taken a leading role as the Cougars second-leading scorer at 14.1 pgg (15th in Pac-12) and top rebounder with 7.1 rpg (7th in Pac-12). Jones has registered three double-doubles as a Coug, including 12 points and 10 rebounds in the Pac-12 Conference opener at Utah. Jones shoots an efficient 59.4% from the field, ranking fourth in the Pac-12 and 35th nationally. Jones has led the Cougars in rebounding seven times.

CLUFF CAREER-NIGHT IN CLUTCH
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. Cluff sits sixth in the Pac-12, just behind Jones, with a 58.6 FG percentage, and blocks one shot per game (11th in Conference).

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 (.400), fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.321), and No. 1 in blocks per game (5.3). Wazzu's defensive field goal prowess ranks 49th in the country. The Cougs limit opponents to 65.9 ppg, second in the Pac-12 and 63rd nationally.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early into conference play, boasting 80 blocks, 5.3 per game, to lead the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars' average is 21st nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 20 in the country according to KenPom.com's effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 19 rejections. Four Cougs have 14+ blocks each (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, 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 77 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 10.0 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. Wazzu has outscored its opponents 550-396 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 just shy of 50% of their scoring from inside the key (36.7 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 26.4 points in the paint per game.

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 44 assists. Houinsou enjoyed a double-digit performance in WSU's win over Portland State, his second of the year. Starting the last nine games in a point guard role, the Frenchman has averaged 3.1 assists per game (28), grabbed seven steals, blocked 11 shots, and grabbed 3.7 rebounds per game, in addition to 51 points scored (5.7 ppg).

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 Saturday against Oregon, 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 one game. On the defensive glass, WSU holds opponents to an average of 8.0 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 +7.0 rebounding margin, which ranks 39th nationally, and scores 12.1 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. Since then, Wells has found his form, scoring in double figures five times, including the first double-double of his Division-I career with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars over UC Riverside. Wells has enjoyed double-digit performances in three of his first four Pac-12 games, including 15 points in the loss to Oregon.

WATTS WORKS INTO LINEUP
True freshman Isaiah Watts had his best game of his young career against Oregon, Saturday. The West Seattle native finished with a career-high 10 points and matched a career high with three rebounds.

SMOOTH SHOOTING
The Cougars have gotten off to a hot start from the floor, shooting above .500 in seven games. The Cougs hold a 6-1 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.