SAINT MARY'S GAELS (17-3, 7-0) at WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (15-6, 5-3)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2025
5:05 p.m. PT (8:05 p.m. ET)
Pullman, Wash.
Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum
Capacity: 11,671

COUGAR RADIO NETWORK
KXLY 920AM | KHTR 104.3FM
KTTH 770AM | KONA 610AM
Play-by-Play: Chris King
Analyst: Craig Ehlo

TELEVISION or STREAMING
CBS Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Rich Waltz
Analyst: Dan Dickau
Producer: Jason Lewis

OPENING TIPS
1. Saint Mary's travels to Pullman to face the Cougars, Saturday at 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Gaels have never played in Pullman, beating the Cougs in the inaugural meeting in the first round of the 2009 National Invitation Tournament in Moraga, California. WSU beat SMC in San Diego, 84-79, in 2017-18 to even the series at 1-1 all-time.
2. LeJuan Watts became the second Coug in program history to record a triple-double, scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists at Santa Clara. Watts' triple-double was the first of his career, the second all-time at WSU after Kyle Weaver's 14-pt, 13-rbd, 10-ast performance at Stanford, Jan. 13, 2007.
3. WSU ranks top-25 in the country in five team categories: 14th in 2-point FG% (.588), 17th in FG% (.492), 17th in effective FG% (.569), 23rd in blocks per game (5.1), and 23rd in assists per game (17.2). Individually, Nate Calmese ranks 17th nationally with 141 field goals and 25th with 43 steals.
4. Nate Calmese leads WSU's active roster with 17.3 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. The junior transfer leads the WCC in steals, sits fourth in scoring, and sixth in assists per game.
5. Nate Calmese became the first Cougar player with 3-consecutive 20-point games in five seasons, when future-NBA selection CJ Elleby scored 3-straight in December of the 2019-20 season.

LAST TIME OUT
WSU suffered its worst loss of the season at Santa Clara, 93-65, Thursday night, despite an historic triple-double from sophomore LeJuan Watts. Watts led the team in scoring with 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, delivering just the second triple-double in program history. The achievement was the first by a Coug since Kyle Weaver delivered the first triple-double in school history Jan. 13, 2007 at Stanford. Ethan Price added 16 points and, in his third game of the season and first back from injury, Rihards Vavers scored a season-high 11 points with three triples.

PICK YOUR POISON
The Cougars have distributed scoring across the majority of the playing rotation with four active players averaging 10+ points through 21 games. At least four Cougs have scored in double figures 12 times, while six different individuals have tallied 20-point performances. Nate Calmese sits sixth in the conference in scoring and LeJuan Watts ranks third in the WCC in rebounding.

SHARING THE ROCK
The Cougs dished out 24 assists in the win over Portland, Dec. 28, matching the season-high with the most single-game assists in six seasons. WSU boasts a 13-3 record when tallying 15+ assists, most recently suffering just its third loss with 19 assists at Santa Clara. In contrast, the Cougs are 2-3 when delivering fewer than 15 assists, securing their second win with 13 assists at San Diego, Jan. 16.

UP NEXT
Washington State travels to Stockton, Calif., seeking revenge for a 94-95 overtime defeat at the hands of the Tigers in Pullman, Jan. 9. The win was Pacific's first WCC victory in two seasons as Lamar Washington delivered a 40-point performance for the Tigers. The meeting marks the inaugural road game in the series and just the second meeting between the programs.

RIM PROTECTORS
The Cougar team leads the WCC and ranks 23rd in the country with 5.14 blocked shots per game. WSU boasts two of the top 10 shot blockers in the conference with Okafor at third (1.5) and Erikstrup at eighth (1.0). As a team, WSU has swatted away a league-best 108 shot attempts, 29 more than the next-closest WCC team.

ROAD TO RECOVERY?
Sophomore Rihards Vavers returned to action at Santa Clara, Jan. 23, for just his third game action and first since Dec. 2, after separate hand injuries in nonconference play. Isaiah Watts suffered a hand injury at Washington, Dec. 18, and is expected back by the end of January. Coach David Riley confirmed in nonconference 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 4-6 month recovery timelines.

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 most nights. The change has results in higher field goal percentages everywhere on the court, including a larger portion of points coming from beyond the arc and more efficiency around the rim. The Cougars rank 14th nationally in 2-point FG percentage.

FLOOR GENERAL CALMESE
Nate Calmese leads the Cougars in scoring, steals, and assists. The junior leads the WCC in steals and has seen all his ballhandling statistics improve over three seasons, including increases in assists from 2.0 to 4.6 per game (+130%); steals from 1.2 to 2.0 per game (+67%), and rebounds from 2.5 to 3.4 per game (+36%).

'JUAN, TWO, THREE
Coach Riley prophesied LeJuan Watts as a triple-double threat, which rang true with the sophomore's first-career triple-double and just the second triple-double in school history, Jan. 23, at Santa Clara. Watts delivered his third 20-point game, to go with 11 rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists. Kyle Weaver tallied the first triple-double in WSU history, Jan. 13, 2007 with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Watts has led the Cougs in rebounding 15 times and ranks third in the WCC with 8.0 rebounds per game.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Ethan Price, a senior transfer from Eastern Washington, has started all 121 games of his career for Coach Riley. The Englishman delivered a career-high 28 points, Jan. 9, against Pacific, with a career-high six 3-pointers. Price 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 2-point percentage and effective FG percentage in the WCC. The Cougs' 2-point percentage of 58.8% ranks 14th nationally, while their effective FG% of .569 ranks 17th in Division-I as of Jan. 24.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Cougars concluded the nonconference schedule at 10-3, earning 10 nonconference wins for the first time since 2010-11, a group that ultimately reached the NIT semifinals with junior Klay Thompson. Coach David Riley became the first WSU first-year head coach since Ken Bone in 2009-10 to win 13 of his first 17 games. Riley became the third coach in Coug history to start 13-5 or better in his first season on the Palouse.

TINKERING WITH TEMPO
The Cougs are averaging 80.8 points per game, third in the WCC behind Gonzaga and 52nd nationally. WSU is 13-3 when scoring over 70 points. WSU got only its second win when being held under 70 points in a 65-61 mudfight at San Diego, Jan. 16.

TOMAS TEASES TALENT
With a short bench, true freshman Tomas Thrastarson made his first career start against Northern Iowa, Dec. 21, and has held the starting spot ever since. The Icelandic native delivered a season-high 17 points and six rebounds in the WCC home opener against LMU, Dec. 30. The freshman has gone on to score in double figures three times, averaging 8.0 ppg in WCC play.

ERIKSTRUP EXCELLENCE
Dane Erikstrup has started every game as a Coug and scored a WSU career-high 24 points in WSU's win over his former team Eastern Washington, Nov. 21. Erikstrup made a homecoming in the Cougars' inaugural WCC game, playing his 80th career Division-I game at Portland, Dec. 28. Since WCC play began, Erikstrup has delivered career-highs in rebounding three times, including his first Cougar double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win at San Diego. In conference play, the senior is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.

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. Okafor ranks second in the WCC with 1.6 blocks per game, recording at least one block in 15 of 16 games played. In the Nov. 15 game against Iowa, Okafor pulled in five boards to eclipse 100 career rebounds. Okafor has twice matched his season-high in WCC play, scoring 12 points in both meetings with Portland.

'ZAY SETTLED 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. In 10 games, the West Seattle sophomore  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 in his non-shooting hand against UW that will sideline him for several weeks.

CORRECTION TO OKAFOR
Prior to this week, ND Okafor was incorrectly classified as a junior on the WSU roster. This has been corrected to his proper classification as a redshirt-sophomore after receiving a medical hardship waiver in August for his season-ending injury as a sophomore at California. Okafor is in his second counting season of eligibility with two remaining after 2024-25.