WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (9-2) at WASHINGTON HUSKIES (7-3, 0-2)
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 at 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET)
Seattle, Washington
Alaska Airlines Arena (9,294)

Cougar Radio Network
KXLY 920AM // KHTR 104.3FM
KTTH 770AM // KONA 610AM
Play-by-Play: Chris King
Analyst: Craig Ehlo

Television & Streaming
FS1 & Fox Sports App
Play-by-Play: Aaron Goldsmith
Analyst: Eldridge Recasner
Producer: Kian Dowlatshahi

OPENING TIPS
1. WSU travels across the state to face rival and former Pac-12 member, Washington, in the 300th all-time meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. on FS1. The rivalry has become just the ninth series in Division-I history to reach 300 games. UW leads the series 188-111, while WSU has found the more recent success, with a 7-3 record over the last four seasons.
2. Coach David Riley has the Cougs off to an 9-2 start, the second-best start by a first-year WSU coach in program history, bested only by Tony Bennett, who started the 2006-07 season 10-1. Riley is the third Wazzu coach in school history to start 9-2 and the second this century (Ken Bone, 2009-10).
3. Five Cougs are averaging 10+ points per game and at least four Cougs have scored in double figures in eight games, while five different players have tallied 20-point games.
4. Nate Calmese leads WSU's active roster with 15.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. The junior transfer sits eighth in the WCC in scoring, fourth in steals, and sixth in assists per game. Calmese has led the Cougs in assists and steals seven times.
5. LeJuan Watts notched his fourth double-double, Dec. 7, vs Boise State, finishing with a season-high 20 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Watts has scored in double figures 10 times, and ranks sixth in the WCC with 7.5 rpg.

SERIES HISTORY WITH WASHINGTON
Washington State University and the University of Washington have played 299 times, dating back to the inaugural game on the Palouse in February 1910. The Huskies insisted on playing by the old game rules, which did not allow for dribbling, without the Cougar team getting the chance to practice. Since then, the rivalry has become the 9th-most-played series in Division-I basketball history. UW leads the series 188-111, while WSU has found the more recent success, winning seven of the last 10 against UW. The Cougars have won four of the last five games against the Huskies in Seattle.

LAST TIME OUT
The Cougs defeated the Missouri State Bears, 91-78, Saturday afternoon and closed their home nonconference schedule 5-0. Dane Erikstrup and Isaiah Watts each scored 20 points as all five WSU starters finished in double figures. Ethan Price added 12 points and team-high seven rebounds to eclipse 500 career rebounds. LeJuan Watts scored 17 points and Nate Calmese added 14 points and matched a career-high with seven assists. Wazzu got off to a slow start, but pulled away in the second half thanks to a 0.627 field goal percentage (32-51) the best FG clip by a Coug team since shooting 67% against Santa Clara in December 2011. WSU improved to 9-0 when dishing out 15+ assists, finishing with 17 assists.

PICK YOUR POISON
The Cougars have distributed scoring across the majority of the playing rotation with five active Cougars averaging 10+ points through 11 games. At least four Cougs have scored in double figures eight times, while five individuals have tallied 20-point performances. Nate Calmese sits eighth in the conference in scoring and LeJuan Watts ranks sixth in the WCC in rebounding.

SHARING THE ROCK
The Cougs dished out a season high 24 assists in the win over Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, marking the most assists by a WSU team in nearly six years, when Wazzu tallied 27 assists against CSUN, Nov. 27, 2018 (2,186 days). The Cougs followed with 22 assists against Fresno State for the second-consecutive 20-assist game. WSU is undefeated at 9-0 when tallying 15+ assists, most recently defeating Missouri State after dishing out 17 assists.

UP NEXT
The Cougar men will conclude the nonconference schedule with a neutral site meeting against Northern Iowa at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, the same venue as the upcoming 2025 WCC Tournament Championships in March. Coach Riley and Wazzu will get familiar with the venue, Saturday, December 21 at 1 p.m. PT on FloHoops.

RIM PROTECTORS
The Cougar team leads the WCC and ranks eighth nationally with 5.9 blocked shots per game. WSU boasts two of the top three shot blockers in the conference with Okafor at second and Erikstrup at third.

INJURY BUG BITES EARLY
Coach David Riley confirmed Saturday the successful shoulder surgeries of senior Cedric Coward and freshman Marcus Wilson, both of whom will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season on a 4-6 month recovery timeline. Sophomore Rihards Vavers is out indefinitely, likely for the season, with broken bones in both hands.

DIFFERENT KINDA COUGS
WSU is built different this season, regularly playing with four or all five men around the perimeter, a different look from the 2023-24 Cougs, which played with two bigs inside. The change has results in a higher 2-point field goal percentage, nearly 60%, and a larger portion of points coming from beyond the arc.

FLOOR GENERAL CALMESE
Nate Calmese, who began his college career as the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year at Lamar, has seen all his ballhandling statistics improve over three seasons, including increases in assists, steals, and rebounds.




'ZAY SETTLES AS A STARTER
Isaiah Watts, the only returning letterwinner from the 2023-24 roster, is on pace to quadruple his scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals output from his freshman season. The West Seattle sophomore has already eclipsed his freshman season totals in points, rebounding, steals, and assists. Three times Isaiah has surpassed 20 points, including a career-high 22 points against Eastern Wash. Zay made his first career start in place of an injured Cedric Coward, Nov. 26, grabbing a career-high five steals and has remained in the starting lineup since. In the win at Nevada, Watts secured a then-career-high six rebounds, only to surpass the mark in his outing at Boise with seven rebounds, before matching it against Missouri State.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Ethan Price, a senior transfer from Eastern Washington, has started all 111 games of his career for Coach Riley. The Englishman surpassed 1,000 career points during his junior season with the Eagles. Early this season, Price dished out his 200th career assist and the senior most recently surpassed 500 career rebounds to become the first Cougar player since Kyle Weaver (2004-08) to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 200 career assists.

EFFICIENT IN THE ARC
In the Nov. 18 win over Northern Colo., the Cougars shot 76.7% from 2-point range, led by redshirt-sophomore LeJuan Watts with a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor. The team percentage marked the highest single-game 2-point percentage by a Wazzu team since December 9, 2007, when the Cougs shot 76.7% from inside the arc against Portland State (26-40). WSU boasts the top effective FG team in the WCC with a .567 eFG%, 39th in Division-I as of Dec. 17.

TINKERING WITH TEMPO
The Cougs are averaging 82.1 points per game, second in WCC behind Gonzaga, and 56th nationally. The Cougars are 7-0 when scoring over 80 points. WSU got its first win when being held under 70 points in a 68-57 mudfight at Nevada, Dec. 2, in Reno.

TOMAS TEASES TALENT
With a short bench, true freshman Tomas Thrastarson has found himself playing more significant rotation minutes. The Icelandic native played a season-high 22 minutes at Nevada, Dec. 2, scoring a 3-pointer and setting career highs with four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE THREAT
Head Coach David Riley has describe LeJuan Watts as a consistent threat for a recording a triple-double. The sophomore standout got the closest he's been as a Coug with six assists in a Dec. 7 win over Boise State. Watts has tallied four double-doubles and five double-digit rebounding games so far.

TRIO OF 20-PIECES
When Cedric Coward, Dane Erikstrup, and Isaiah Watts combined for 68 points against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, they became the first Cougar trio to scored 20 points each in the same game in 3,598 days. The last WSU trio to achieve three 20-point games at once came Jan. 15, 2015 against Oregon when Josh Hawkinson, Ike Iroegbu, and DaVonte Lacy combined for 70 points.

DOWNTOWN DOWNPOURS
Wazzu had its best game of the season from beyond the arc against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, hitting 16 triples at a 53% clip (16-of-30). It marked the most 3-pointers by the Cougs in a single game since setting the school record with 18 three-pointers in a win over Detroit Mercy, Nov. 25, 2022. Dane Erikstrup led Wazzu with six 3-pointers, becoming the first Coug since current Memphis Grizzlies' rookie Jaylen Wells made six triples in a win at No. 4 Arizona last February.

CALMESE SETS SEASON-HIGH
Nate Calmese scored a season-high 27 points, Nov. 15 against Iowa, his first 20-point performance since Feb. 25, 2023 as a freshman at Lamar. The junior transfer scored in double figures in eight of his first 10 games at WSU, adding his second 20-point game in the win over Fresno State.

ERIKSTRUP EXCELLENCE
Dane Erikstrup scored a WSU career-high 24 points in WSU's win over his former team Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, becoming the fourth Coug this year with a 20-point game. The Beaverton, Oregon native also grabbed eight rebounds, setting a WSU career high.

OKAFOR BACK ON THE FLOOR
Junior ND Okafor, a transfer from California, played his first minutes as a Coug in the Nov. 11 win over Idaho. Okafor missed the first two games due to concussion protocol. In his Cougar debut, Okafor delivered a career-high 12 points, with six rebounds, a block, and a steal. In the Nov. 15 game against Iowa, Okafor pulled in five boards to eclipse 100 career rebounds. Against Fresno State, Okafor rejected a career-high three shots, and has established himself as the Cougs premier rim protector.

COWARD NAMED WCC POTW
Cedric Coward was named WCC Player of the Week, Nov. 25, for the first time in his career after matching his D-I career-high with 30 points vs Northern Colorado, while committing zero turnovers, the first 30-point performance of the season by a Coug. The Fresno native followed with 22 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and a steal against his former team, Eastern Washington. Over two games, Coward shot 19-of-30 (.633) from the floor, including 5-of-11 from deep (.455). However, Coward has not seen the floor since winning the award, out indefinitely with a left shoulder injury.

THE CENTURY MARK
When the Cougs defeated Portland State, 100-92, in the season opener, the Cougars eclipsed 100 points for the first time since beating Oregon State, 103-97 in overtime, Feb. 28, 2022, in Corvallis, Ore. It marked the first triple-digit performance at Beasley Coliseum since beating CSUN, 103-94, Nov. 27, 2018. WSU scored 100 points in regulation for the first time since beating Idaho 109-61, Nov. 18, 2021 in Moscow, Idaho.

COUGS PICKED FIFTH IN WCC
Entering the 2024-25 season as an affiliate member of the WCC, Wazzu was selected fifth in the preseason coaches poll. The last time a David Riley team was selected fifth in the preseason conference poll, at EWU in 2022-23, his team rattled off an 18-game unbeaten streak on the way to a Big Sky Conference regular season championship.