WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (10-3) at PORTLAND PILOTS (5-8)
Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024
5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET)
Portland, Oregon
Chiles Center (4,852)

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

Television & Streaming
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Bryan Sleik
Analyst: Jennifer Mountain
Producer: Unknown

Opening Tips
1. Washington State begins its 2024-25 WCC campaign, Saturday, Dec. 28, at the Portland Pilots. Coach Riley has never faced the Pilots as a head coach,  but coached alongside Portland Head Coach Shantay Legans. WSU is 12-2 all-time against Portland. The schools last met in 2012. Wazzu has only lost to Portland in the Rose City, holding a 2-2 away record at the Chiles Center.
2. Coach Riley has led the Cougs to a 10-3 start, the best start by a first-year WSU coach since Ken Bone started 10-3 in 2009-10. Tony Bennett boasted the best start in the 2006-07 Coug season at 11-2. Riley is the fourth Wazzu coach in school history to start his first season at 10-3 or better; third coach this century.
3. The Cougars concluded the nonconference schedule at 10-3, earning 10 nonconference wins for the first time since 2010-11, ultimately reaching the NIT semifinals with Klay Thompson.
4. Nate Calmese leads WSU's active roster with 16.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. The junior transfer sits fifth in the WCC in scoring, sixth in assists, and sixth in steals per game.
5. LeJuan Watts notched his fifth double-double, Dec. 21, finishing with 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Watts has scored in double figures 12 times, and ranks sixth in the WCC with 7.8 rpg.

LAST TIME OUT
WSU defeated Northern Iowa, 76-68, Saturday, Dec. 21, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. LeJuan Watts secured his fifth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Nate Calmese led the Cougs with 16 points and six rebounds. Tomas Thrastarson made his first career start and finished with a career-high seven points. Dane Erikstrup tallied 15 points in the win. The Cougars shot an eye-watering 72.4% in the first half, finishing the game 59.3% from the floor (32-of-54) and are 8-0 when shooting over 50%. WSU also dished out 23 assists, one shy of the season high, improving to 10-0 when delivering 15+ assists.

PICK YOUR POISON
The Cougars have distributed scoring across the majority of the playing rotation with five players averaging 10+ points through 13 games. At least four Cougs have scored in double figures eight times, while five individuals have tallied 20-point performances. Nate Calmese sits fifth 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 10-0 when tallying 15+ assists, most recently defeating Northern Iowa after dishing out 23 assists. In contrast, the Cougs are 0-3 when delivering fewer than 15 assists.

UP NEXT
The Cougars will host their inaugural WCC home game at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington, Monday, Dec. 30. The pseudo-home game will mark the first "home" game for WSU. The Cougs and Lions met in three-straight MTEs dating back to 1986 and have met just once since the turn of the century, a win for the Lions at the 2016 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Cougars are 2-2 against LMU and Coach David Riley has never coached against the Lions.

RIM PROTECTORS
The Cougar team leads the WCC and ranks sixth in the country with 6.0 blocked shots per game. WSU boasts two of the top four shot blockers in the conference with Okafor at second and Erikstrup at fourth.

INJURY BUG BITES EARLY
Coach David Riley confirmed in December 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. Isaiah Watts suffered a hand injury against Washington, Dec. 18, and did not play against Northern Iowa.

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, over 60%, and a larger portion of points coming from beyond the arc. The Cougars rank 14th nationally in 2-point FG percentage.

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 (+125%), steals (+58%), and rebounds (+32%).

'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 remained in the starting lineup until an injury against UW.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Ethan Price, a senior transfer from Eastern Washington, has started all 113 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 Colorado, the Cougars shot 76.7% from 2-point range, 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%, 35th in Division-I as of Dec. 27.

TINKERING WITH TEMPO
The Cougs are averaging 80.9 points per game, second in WCC behind Gonzaga, and 67th nationally. The Cougars are 7-0 when scoring over 80 points. WSU got its only 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, Tomas Thrastarson made his first career start against Northern Iowa, Dec. 21. The true freshman has found himself playing more significant minutes. The Icelandic native played a season-high 27 minutes vs UNI, scoring a season-high seven points, while adding three rebounds and an assist.

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 five double-doubles and six double-digit rebounding games so far. Watts has led the Cougs in rebounding nine times.

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.

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, and has started every game as a Cougar.

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 for the season following left shoulder surgery.

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.