WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (18-6, 9-4) vs CALIFORNIA BEARS (10-14, 6-7)
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024
7 p.m. PT // Pullman, Wash.
Beasley Coliseum  // 11,671
Radio Coverage
Cougar Sports Network // KXLY 920AM
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
Television Coverage
Pac-12 Network // Wash. // Bay Area
Greg Heister & Matt Muehlebach

OPENING FIVE
1. WSU hosts Cal, Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m., looking to avenge its last loss, in overtime in Berkeley, Jan. 20, having won 8 of the last 9 with the Bears
2. Myles Rice is a strong candidate for Pac-12 FOTY, the reigning and 6-time Freshman of the Week, the Cougs leading scorer, the Pac-12's second-highest scoring freshman, the country's 6th-highest scoring freshman, WSU's freshman single-game scoring recordholder (35 points), and the only high-major freshman leading his team in points, steals, and assists
3. The Cougars hold opponents to just 40.8% shooting, best in the Pac-12 and 38th in D-I, 32% from deep, while blocking 5.2 shots per game, 2nd in the Pac-12 and 18th in the country
4. Jaylen Wells has grown exponentially since joining the starting lineup nine games ago – averaging 13.8 points per game in Pac-12 play and has scored in double figures 11-straight times – last weekend, Wells scored a career-high 24 points at OSU, and finished the weekend 10 of 12 from 3-point range
5. Wazzu is one of the hottest team's in the country, winners of 5-straight and 8 of the last 9 contests, its best start in Pac-12 era and best 24-game start since the 2007-08 season, the last NCAA Tournament selection and a trip to the Sweet 16, falling to eventual champ UNC

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 84-59 advantage in the all-time series, while WSU has recent success, winning 8 of the last 9 against Cal. Last season, WSU achieved 3-straight wins at Haas Pavilion for the first time since winning 4-straight from 1980-83. The Cougars have controlled the Pac-12 era with a 13-11 record since 2012-13.

LAST TIME VS CALIFORNIA
Jaylon Tyson tied a career-high with 30 points, Fardaws Aimaq scored 18 points and California led for the duration of overtime to beat Washington State 81-75 in overtime on Jan. 20. The Cougs led 65-58 with 2:03 remaining in regulation before Cal went on a 10-0 run.
Rice buried a 3-pointer as time expired to knot the game at 68 to force overtime. Andrej Jakimovski led the Cougs with 20 points, Myles Rice scored 16 points, Jaylen Wells 15 and Isaac Jones 13. Washington State missed seven foul shots in the loss and snapped an 8-game winning streak against the Golden Bears.

CURRENT COUGS VS CALIFORNIA
WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith holds an 8-3 record against UC-Berkeley during his Cougar tenure. January's loss to Cal was the first loss to the Bears for any current student-athlete on  the WSU roster, having won eight-straight. Andrej Jakimovski has a knock for finding the bucket against UC, scoring in double figures the last two meetings and a team-high 20 points at Berkeley in Jan.

COUGARS VS GOLDEN BEARS
Washington State and California first met in 1917 and competed regularly as members of the Pacific Coast Conference. The Golden Bears hold an 84-59 advantage in the all-time series, while WSU has recent success, winning 8 of the last 9 against Cal. Last season, WSU achieved 3-straight wins at Haas Pavilion for the first time since winning 4-straight from 1980-83. In January, Jaylon Tyson led the Bears with 30 points, snapping an eight-game losing streak to Wazzu. The Cougars have controlled the Pac-12 era with a 13-11 record since 2012-13 and winners of 8 of the last 10 meetings.

LAST TIME OUT // AT OREGON
WSU 62 // UO 56 // FEB. 10, 2024 // EUGENE, ORE.
Myles Rice scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and Washington State beat Oregon 62-56 on Saturday in a battle for second place in the Pac-12 Conference. Rice made 6 of 15 shots with a 3-pointer for the Cougars (18-6, 9-4), who have won five in a row and eight of their last nine. He added a career-high nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Rice has won five freshman-of-the-week honors this season. Jaylen Wells, who made his first six 3-point attempts in a 64-58 victory over Oregon State on Thursday, 4 of 4 against the Ducks and scored 12 of his 13 points to help Washington State take a 29-27 lead into halftime. Isaac Jones totaled 13 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots for the Cougars, who swept the Oregon schools on the road for the first time since 2009. Oscar Cluff pitched in with 12 points and six rebounds.

COUGS ON HISTORIC CURTAIN CALL THROUGH CONFERENCE
Kyle Smith has become associated with the most successful coaches to come through the Palouse, including Marv Harshman, George Raveling, Kelvin Sampson, and Tony Bennett. The Cougs are 18-6 for the first time since 2007-08, when Wazzu started 19-5, and went to the NCAA Tournament. Kyle has guided the Cougs to their best 24-game start in the Pac-12 era with a 9-4 Conference record, best since starting 10-3 during the 2006-07 season. The Cougars have clinched back-to-back postseason berths for the first time since the Tony Bennett era (2008 and 2009) and are seeking three-straight postseason appearances for just the second time in program history. Washington State has won five-straight games and 8 of the last 9 matchups.

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 20-7 and defeated all three regional rivals in back-to-back-to-back succession on the road 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 finished a 3-game PNW roadswing unblemished. Coach Smith is 11-2 at Beasley Coliseum against Conference PNW opponents.

DON'T SQUANDER THE LEAD
Wazzu is 16-0 this year when entering the halftime break with a lead. Mostly recently, the Cougs beat Oregon, 62-56 after taking a 2-point lead into intermission. By contrast, WSU is 1-6 this year when trailing at the half, and 1-0 when tied at halftime.

KYLE ECLIPSES 250
With the Jan. 18 win over Oregon State in Corvallis, WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith earned his 250th Division-I coaching victory, the final 86 coming at Washington State. Smith holds the sixth-most wins in WSU coaching history, and sits 8th in all-time career wins by a WSU coach.

RICE MAKING FRESHMAN HISTORY
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice has emerged as a national story, as WSU's leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, the 3-time reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, and most-decorated Cougar freshman in program history with six weekly awards. Rice is the 6th-highest scoring freshman in the country, and the only freshman in the six major Conferences to lead his team in points, steals (1.63), and assists (3.75). The Columbia, S.C. native has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games, capped by a 21-point game in the win at Oregon. Seven times in Pac-12 play, Rice has distributed at least five assists. Rice is re-writing several WSU freshman records, including his points per game average, which would be second-best all-time by a Coug freshman. Rice is projected to finish in the top-3 in WSU freshman history in steals, steals per game average, assists, and assists per game average.

ISAAC IS HIM
In his outing in the win at Washington, Jones scored 20 points for the sixth time this year. Jones shoots the ball at a .576 clip (140 of 243),  fifth in the Pac-12 and 32nd nationally. Jones has excelled on the glass and at the free throw line. The fifth-year senior is 92 of 126 at the charity stripe, going 40 of 52 over the last nine games. Jones has also led the Cougars in rebounding 12 times.

NEXT UP // HOME HOSTING STANFORD
Washington State faces Stanford, Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. from Beasley Coliseum. The Cougs picked up a win at Stanford, Jan. 18 when Myles Rice exploded for a WSU freshman single-game record 35 points, the most be a Pac-12 freshman this 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 12 times, including five-straight games. Jakimovski dropped a team-high 20 points at Cal, marking his third 20+ point game of the season. Jakimovski has increased his points per game average output by 4.9 ppg since arriving on campus and upped his rebounding average by 1.4 rpg over the same four-year timeframe. Jakimovski has moved into the WSU record books top-10 for career 3-pointers made (166) and 3-pointers attempted (472). Jakimovski also has grabbed 484 career rebounds and is on pace to surpass 500 career rebounds this season.

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 three assists in 11 of his last 12 games, and 5+ assists in 3 of the last 4 games. The standout freshman leads the Cougs with 90 assists (3.75 apg, 6th in Pac-12) and moved into eighth all-time by a Cougar freshman in season assists. Rice also averages a team-best 1.63 steals per game (39 total, 5th in Pac-12) and top in the Conference for a freshman. Myles is on pace to finish as the second-highest scoring freshman in WSU history, averaging 15.6 ppg with 374 total points (fifth).

STIFLING DEFENSE
The Cougars' defense has fit Coach Smith's mold of winning with grit, as WSU leads the Pac-12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.408) and second in the League in blocks per game (5.2). Wazzu's defensive field goal prowess ranks 38th in the country (FG defense). The Cougs limit opponents to 66.9 ppg, second in the Pac-12. In the win over No. 8 Arizona, the Cougs held the Wildcats to their lowest output of the season, following with the lowest output by Utah (57) and its worst 3-point shooting game of the year (18.2%). Most recently WSU clamped down Oregon for their lowest scoring total of the year (56) and just 22.2% from 3-point range.

JAYLEN JOINS THE CLUB
Junior transfer Jaylen Wells has found his form in Conference play, starting the last nine games and averaging 15.8 ppg as a starter. Most recently, Wells set a career-high with 24 points in the win at OSU, his first 20-point game of D-I, capping the weekend with a perfect 4 of 4 from downtown to finish 10 of 12 from 3-point range on the road trip. Wells has enjoyed double-digit performances in 11-straight games, averaging 13.8 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 10+ points 16 times.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early into conference play, boasting 125 blocks, 5.2 per game, second in the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars' average is 18th nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 27 in the country according to KenPom's effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 34 rejections, and is on pace to break the WSU freshman block record. Four Cougs have 19+ 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.

NEW YEAR SUCCESS
Washington State finished with a 6-2 record in January, marking the first time in 41 years with six Conference wins in the first calendar month. WSU last achieved the feat in 1982-83, wracking up a program-record eight wins in the month, seven Pac-10 victories under the direction of future Hall of Fame Head Coach George Raveling.

MYLES SETS WSU FRESHMAN SCORING RECORD
The 6-time 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, Jan. 18. Rice scored more points than any freshman in the Pac-12 this year, adding eight assists. Rice became just the third freshman in the last 20 years to put up 35 points with eight assists as a freshman, joining Trae Young and Markelle Fultz. Rice finished 15 of 24 from the floor, including 5 of 10 from downtown in the win on The Farm, adding four steals with just two turnovers. Rice's performance is the highest single-game scoring output by a freshman in high-major basketball this year.

DIFFERENT KINDA COUGS
WSU is built different this season, regularly with two inside men, a different look from Coach Smith's recent Palouse teams, which played with four or all five men outside. The change has results in a higher percentage of shots in the paint, and a 2-point field goal percentage over 52%.

RUEBEN'S BIG BLOCKS
True freshman Rueben Chinyelu has turned heads on the West Coast with a 7'8" wingspan and as one of the best young rim protectors in college basketball. Chinyelu, a native of Nigeria, has 34 blocks, fourth-most by a Cougar freshman, and is on pace to finish as WSU's all-time freshman block leader at 1.4 blocks per game, currently fourth overall in the Pac-12 Conference. If Chinyelu continues to average over two field goals per game at a similar clip, he will also finish in the WSU freshman top-10 for field goal percentage. Most recently, Chinyelu passed Aron Baynes in single-season freshman rebounding and is ninth in freshman program history.

NOT SO FAST...
Fast break points have been hard to come by for Wazzu's opponents with just 133 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 8.6 to 5.5 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 854-682 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 (35.6 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 28.4 points in the paint per game.

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, Jan. 15, after winning at USC and beating No. 8 Arizona at home. 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.

A CENTURY'S ACHIEVEMENT
With the Feb. 3 win in Seattle, the Cougars won four of the last five games against the Huskies in the Emerald City. The feat marked the third time in the series history when WSU won four of five at Washington. The last time WSU traveled west and picked up as many wins came during a stretch from February 1918 to March 1920, part of a larger 6 of 7 and 7 of 9 winning streak at the University of Washington.

JONES CLAIMS NATIONAL ACCOLADES
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones has taken a leading role as the Cougars second-leading scorer at 15.5 ppg (10th in Pac-12) and top rebounder with 7.7 rpg (fourth in Pac-12). In January, 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 honors. 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 led the Cougs with 20 points in the win at Washington, marking his fourth Conference game with 20+ points and 10th time in Pac-12 play with 10+ points.

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. More recently, the Australian registered his first career double-double with a WSU single-game season high 14 rebounds and 12 points at Stanford, following with 13 points in the win over Utah. Cluff sits eighth in the Pac-12, just ahead of Jones, with a 56.1 FG percentage.

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.

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 56 assists. At USC, Jan. 10, Houinsou played in his 50th collegiate game. At Washington, Feb. 3, Houinsou sealed the win fo Wazzu with clampdown defense on the final overtime possession.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
The Cougars have used their height advantage all season, outrebounding opponents in all but four games. On the defensive glass, WSU holds opponents to an average of 7.9 second-chance points per game. In the game at Utah, Dec. 29, the Cougs grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds, the most in two years. WSU boasts a +5.3 rebounding margin, which ranks 43rd nationally, and scores 11.8 second chance points per game. In the win over Utah, the Cougs outscored the Utes 21-4 on second-chance points, later beating Colorado with a 16-4 advantage in second-chance, outscoring the Buffs 13-0 in the second half.

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.

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.

COUGS INSIDE TOP 40 OF LATEST NCAA EVALUATION TOOL
In the 2023-24 season's NET rankings released by the NCAA, Feb. 14, Washington State checks in at No. 38. The Cougars are the 3rd-highest Pac-12 team, ranked behind national No. 3 Arizona and Colorado. WSU climbed as high as No. 24 early in nonconference play.

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.

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.

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.

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.

HOME SWEET HOME
Washington State completed its entire nonconference schedule without a true road game. WSU won all seven nonconference games at Beasley Coliseum, while participating in four neutral-site games before kicking off conference play. The scheduling quirk marked the first time since the 2020-21 season that the Cougars did not play a true nonconference road game, and the 9-2 marked the best nonconference record in Coach Smith's tenure on the Palouse.

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.