SPOKANE, Wash. (Hayden Wysup) – The Washington State men's basketball defeated LMU, 73-59, Monday evening at Spokane Arena in the inaugural WCC home game. 
 
Big Picture: Washington State extended its winning streak to three games and improved to 12-3 and 2-0 in WCC play. 
 
Breakout Performance: True freshman Tomas Thrastarson had his best game of the year with a career-high 17 points and career-high six rebounds. 
 
Player Performances: Nate Calmese led the team in scoring with 20 points, four assists and three rebounds. Calmese has scored 20+ points four times. LeJuan Watts scored eight points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out a career-high eight assists as he flirted with a triple-double. 
 
Turning Point: Coming out of the second half, LeJuan Watts got the scoring going for the Cougs and sparked a 23-7 run to give Wazzu a definitive 59-44 lead. 
 
Up Next: Wazzu returns to Pullman to host San Francisco, Saturday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. to ring in the New Year at Beasley Coliseum. The game is the second half of a Cougar basketball doubleheader with the WSU women and both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.