IDAHO VANDALS at WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2025
6:32 p.m. PT (9:32 p.m. ET)
Pullman, Washington
Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum
Capacity: 11,671

COUGAR RADIO NETWORK
Seattle 770AM & 94.5FM 
Spokane 920AM & 100.7FM
Pullman 104.3FM | Tri-Cities 610AM
Chris King and Craig Ehlo

TELEVISION or STREAMING
ESPN+ & ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Trevor Williams
Analyst: Matt Muelbach
Producer: David Feldman

OPENING TIPS
1. The Washington State men's basketball program begins its 124th season, tipping off the 2025-26 season, Monday, November 3 against the Idaho Vandals at 6:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington. The Cougars are led by second-year head coach David Riley with five returning letterwinners and nine newcomers, including four freshmen, four transfers, and one European pro.
2. Monday night's season opener marks the 280th all-time meeting between the Cougars and Vandals in the Battle of the Palouse. The Cougars hold the 169-110 advantage in a series dating back to January 1906 and the 11th most-played series in D-I history.
3. David Riley finished his first season on the Palouse 19-15 with a postseason berth to the inaugural College Basketball Crown. The selection marked a third postseason in four seasons for Coach Riley, and fourth-consecutive postseason for the Cougs.
4. WSU set school records last year with 968 field goals made and 574 assists, more than any previous team in school history. The Cougs finished  ninth in the country in FG percentage, 19th in assists, and 20th in blocks.
5. The Cougars returned Parker Gerrits, ND Okafor, Tomas Thrastarson, Rihards Vavers, and Kase Wynott after their first season of playing time at WSU in 2024-25.

UP NEXT
The Cougars will hit the road for the first time this season, traveling to Davidson, North Carolina to face the Wildcats, Friday, November 7. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. PT with coverage on ESPN+.

HOME OPENERS
The Cougars are to 102-22 all-time in season openers. Wazzu is 63-8 when opening the season at home and has won every season opener when opening at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars have won 29 consecutive season openers at home and have won 35-consecutive Beasley Coliseum openers (not necessarily the first game of the season).

COUGS PICKED SIXTH IN WCC
Entering the 2025-26 season as an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference, Wazzu was selected sixth in the preseason coaches poll. The Cougars did not receive an honoree on the conference preseason team.

COUGS BEST LOBOS IN EXHIBITION
Washington State played a public exhibition for the first time since 2018, defeating reigning Mountain West champions New Mexico, 74-66, October 25 during WSU Family Weekend. Ten Cougs played in the contest and eight scored.

TOMAS TURNS UP
Returning sophomore Tomas Thrastarson has turned heads with his offseason development after being named to the 2024-25 WCC All-Freshman Team after playing in 31 games with 11 starts, averaging 4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 19 blocks.

OKAFOR EFFICIENCY
Returning redshirt-junior ND Okafor finished his sophomore season in Pullman with a 62.3 field goal percentage, the fifth-best single-season percentage in program history. Okafor also led the team in blocks with 40 rejections, fourth in the WCC, on a team that finished 20th in the country in blocks per game.

TURNOVER TROUBLE
The Cougars averaged 14.6 turnovers per game, 13th worst in the country or 343rd overall. Last season, when Wazzu committed 14 or fewer turnovers, it boasts a 10-6 record. By contrast, when WSU commits at least 15 turnovers, it holds a 8-9 record. The Cougs committed a season-high 23 turnovers vs San Diego, Feb. 27, their fourth game with at least 20 turnovers last season. Surprisingly, WSU's record with 20+ turnovers was 3-1 while the record with fewer than 10 turnovers was 1-2.

DEAD EYE GETS THE DUB
The Cougars posted an 18-3 record when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent, in contrast WSU was 1-12 when shooting worse from the floor than its opponent. The Cougs' only three losses when shooting better than their opponent came at Pacific, Jan, 30, versus San Francisco in the WCC Tournament, March 9, and in the season-ending loss to Georgetown in the College Basketball Crown. WSU's only win when shooting worse than its opponent came Nov. 8 against Bradley, shooting 44.3% compared to the Braves' 44.4% in a home win. The Cougars will travel to face the Braves later this month.

CONTRACT EXTENSION
WSU Director of Athletics Anne McCoy announced a one-year extension to David Riley's existing contract, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Riley's contract now runs through the 2030-31 season.

NEW PAC-12 ON THE HORIZON
The revitalized Pac-12 Conference is set to launch July 1, 2026 with a strong slate of men's basketball programs including Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State.