WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (6-8, 1-0) at SEATTLE U REDHAWKS (11-3, 0-1)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2025
7 p.m. PT
Seattle, Washington
Climate Pledge Arena
Capacity: 18,300

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

TV & STREAMING
ESPN+ & ESPN App
Play-by-Play: Russell Brown
Analyst: John Impelman
Producer: Robbie Loya

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: 9-9
Record at Seattle U: 1-4
First Meeting: Dec. 9, 1949 (59-39)
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2021 (79-61)

OPENING TIPS
1. The Washington State men's basketball team continues a Pacific Northwest road swing in the Emerald City to face Seattle U, Tuesday, December 30, at Climate Pledge Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+. The meeting marks the first between the programs since 2021 and the first game as conference foes.
2. True freshman Ace Glass was named WCC Freshman of the Week for a second time, Dec. 22, after leading the Cougars in scoring to close nonconference play. Glass broke the WSU freshman scoring record with 40 points vs ASU, Nov. 25, earning his first WCC weekly honor. The Rialto, California native leads WSU averaging 15.6 ppg and shoots at a 46.9% clip.
3. ND Okafor is leading the team in efficiency, shooting the ball at 58.1% from the floor. Okafor is second in the WCC in blocks (22) and ranks top-50 nationally, having recorded a rejection in nine-straight games. The Irishman averages 5.4 rebounds per game and delivered a career-high five blocks versus Nevada., December 7.
4. Eemeli Yalaho averages a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game, delivering three double-doubles in his Cougar career. The Finn scored 14 points with 10 rebounds to close nonconference vs Mercer. Yalaho is 10th in WCC in total rebounds and has led the Cougs in rebounding seven times.
5. Sophomore Tomas Thrastarson had the best offensive game of his career vs Nevada, scoring a career-high 20-points to lead the Cougs in scoring for a fifth time. He is second on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game and shoots the ball over 46% from the floor. 

LAST TIME OUT
Washington State defeated the Portland Pilots, 67-62, Sunday afternoon at the Chiles Center. All 10 Cougars scored in the contest, led by Rihards Vavers with 13 points. The Cougars built a nine-point first-half lead, holding the Pilots to just 23 first-half points, before Portland stormed back with a 12-0 run to start the second half, taking its first lead of the contest. The Pilots' run extended to 22-5 and an eight-point lead with just 10 minutes remaining. Vavers sparked an 11-0 run for Wazzu, reclaiming a 49-45 lead that the Cougs did not relinquish.

SERIES HISTORY WITH SEATTLE U
Despite their relative proximity, WSU and Seattle U have met just 18 times in total, splitting a 9-9 record. The programs last met in 2021 in Pullman when Wazzu picked up its second-consecutive win and fifth win in the last six meetings. Since the turn of the century, WSU is 3-1 against SU. Coach Riley has never coached against Seattle U nor have any current Cougs played against the Redhawks. The last time the Cougars faced the Redhawks in Seattle came Dec. 6, 1977 – nearly 48 years ago or 17,556 days.

ABOUT THE REDHAWKS
Seattle U is enjoying its best start since 1966-67, boasting an 11-3 record with six consecutive wins to close nonconference play. The Redhawks dropped the conference opener to San Francisco, their return to the WCC after departing in 1980. Seattle is led by fourth-year head coach Chris Victor and three double-digit scorers, including leading scorer Brayden Maldonado at 15.8 points per game. Seattle leads the WCC at 5.4 blocks per game, 17th nationally. The Redhawks rank top-50 nationally in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, and turnovers forced.

OKAFOR BLOCKS MORE
Returning redshirt-junior ND Okafor is the Cougars leading rim protector, having led the Cougs 10 times in single-game blocks, totalling 22 on the season, second in WCC and 53rd nationally. The Irishman has registered at least one rejection in nine consecutive games, including a career-high five blocks against Nevada, Dec. 7. In nonconference play Okafor delivered a career-high 27 points and career-high eight rebounds against Southern Utah, November 19. Okafor shot 12-of-14 from the floor, the best single-game percentage by a Coug with as many attempts since at least 1996.

UP NEXT
Washington State returns to Pullman for its first home game of West Coast Conference action. The Cougars will host Loyola Marymount, Friday, January 2, at 6:30 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. WSU and LMU met just once during the regular season, a victory for the Cougs in Spokane, Washington. The Cougars ended LMU's 2024-25 season at the WCC Tournament Championships with a 94-77 win over the Lions. Rihards Vavers scored 16 points in 17 minutes of action.

PICK YOUR POISON
Five Cougars average over 9.0 points per game, while five different Cougs have delivered 20-point performances at least once this season, including Glass, Okafor, Thrastarson, Ugbo, and Vavers.

DEFENSIVE GLASS
WSU ranks 21st in the country in defending against offensive rebounding, according to KenPom - that is, they prevent opponents from getting second-chances from offensive boards - holding opponents to a 25.1% defended offensive rebounding percentage.

GO YALAHO GO
Junior Texas Tech transfer Eemeli Yalaho has quietly become a double-double threat, delivering three this season. The Finn is averaging 9.8 points per game and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game. Twice this season Yalaho has pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and scored 10+ points on 10 occasions.

AARON ACES NONCONFERENCE
True freshman Ace Glass has stepped into a leading roll for the Cougars, averaging a team-high 15.6 points per game, breaking the WSU freshman single-game scoring record with 40 points versus Arizona State, and picking up a pair of WCC Freshman of the Week honors. The Rialto, California kid sits seventh in the West Coast Conference in scoring and leads the League in freshman scoring.

MORTON MOJO
Junior Morehead State transfer Jerone Morton has found a starting role in the Cougar lineup, sharing ballhandling responsibilities through 12 starts, and leading the team in assists seven times. Morton is averaging 5.9 points per game, 2.6 assists per game, and one steal per game. At Bradley, the Lexington, Kentucky native finished a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, a career high from the charity stripe. 

UNFORCED ERRORS
In non-steal turnovers, the Cougars rank 336th, while they rank 83rd in steal turnover percentage. In other terms, the majority of the Cougars turnovers are unforced, despite the Cougs not allowing opponents to force steals.

COMEBACK KIDS
Washington State is the only Division-I team in the country since the start of last season to play multiple games in which both team held a 17-point lead. WSU won both contests. Against Chaminade, November 24, the Cougars trailed by as many as 17 points before rallying to victory. In David Riley's first game as Cougar head coach in 2024-25, WSU rallied from a 17-point deficit against Portland State, to secure victory.

ROAD WARRIORS
Cougs have played the 47th toughest schedule in the country according to NCAA NET rankings. WSU has traveled over 16,000 miles and played games in four time zones. 

CONTROL THE ROCK
Washington State has struggled to control the ball in several key areas including turnovers forced, offensive rebounds, assist-to-turnover ratio. The Cougars are forcing just 10.3 turnovers per game, 329th in Division-I. The Cougars ranked 318th in offensive rebounding, grabbing just 9.4 offensive boards per game, and WSU ranks 314th nationally with a 0.93 assist-to-turnover ratio.

BATTLING BAD LUCK
According to KenPom's Luck metric, the Cougars rank 309th out of 365 teams as one of the unluckiest teams in the country. KenPom's Luck metric is calculated using the deviation in winning percentage between a team's actual record and their expected record using the correlated gaussian method. 

LINE IN THE SAND
As a team, Washington State is shooting the ball at 46.5%. When the Cougars shoot over 50%, they are 5-1, but are just 1-7 when held under 50% shooting. WSU picked up its first win when shooting under 50% Sunday afternoon at Portland, defeating the Pilots despite shooting just 37.7% from the floor. The Cougs are also 5-2 this season when scoring 70+ points, however when they are held under 70 points, WSU is 1-6, beating the Pilots.

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, playing in 31 games with 11 starts, averaging 4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 19 blocks. Since the season opener against Idaho, Thrastarson has matched or bested his career-high three times, including a 20-point game versus Nevada. In the opener against Idaho, Thrastarson finished 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. 

SPOKANE ARENA HISTORY
Washington State will host Oregon State at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane, Sunday, January 4. The Cougars hold an all-time record of 23-19 at Spokane Arena dating back to 1995. Last season, WSU played LMU in its first conference game in Spokane since 2016-17, defeating the Lions to improve to 3-1 all-time in conference games at Numerica Veterans Arena.

BENCH BUCKLES DOWN
Four times this season the WSU bench has scored 40+ points in a single game, most recently dropping 45 rotation points on Eastern Washington. The WSU bench scored a season high 67 points in the Maui opening win over Chaminade and average 30.5 ppg from the rotation, outscoring opponent benches by an average of seven points per game.

EMMANUEL ENCHANTS
Transfer Emmanuel Ugbo (Boise State) led the Cougars in scoring twice and rebounding in three of the first four games, before delivering a career-high 20 points against Eastern Washington, December 17. Ugbo is averaging 7.6 ppg and 3.5 rpg after suffering an ankle injury at the start of the November 19 win over Southern Utah. In his WSU debut in the season opener versus Idaho, Ugbo matched his career high with 17 points and added a career-high eight rebounds. At Davidson, Ugbo earned his first Coug start, delivering 16 points and five rebounds. The Dutchman is shooting over 53% from the floor. 

ADRIA DISHES SPANISH FLARE
Incoming senior Adria Rodriguez, a member of Spanish second-division club Alicante, has shown is floor general prowess as the Cougs leading assister in seven of the first 14 games. The Catalonia kid is averaging 2.6 assists per game, including some eye-popping between-the-legs passes through heavy traffic. Adria has also led the team in steals six times.

RILEY RUNS IT BACK
David Riley began his second season at WSU after finishing 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. 

COUGS BOND IN EUROPEAN TRIP
The Cougars took an international tour this summer, visiting England and Spain. WSU played three exhibition games over 10 days, while sightseeing London, Malaga, and Barcelona. The Cougs say the London Eye, Big Ben, La Sagrada Familia, and excursioned around the Mediterranean Sea in southern Spain. Division-I teams are allowed foreign tours once every four years. The Cougar men last traveled in 2015 to Italy. Freshman Brunel Madzou and senior Adrià Rodriguez did not play, as they were not cleared through the NCAA at the time of the tour, and Rodriguez joined the Spanish national team for a pair of exhibition matches.

COUGARS 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.

BRAYDEN KYMAN INKS DEAL
Class of 2026 senior Brayden Kyman, a 6-8 power forward from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, signed a financial aid agreement to play basketball at Washington State beginning next season. The versatile forward can score at all three levels with a deep range and length to work inside. 

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
During Riley's first season the Cougs set school records in shots made (968) and assists (574), more than any previous team in school history. The Cougs finished ninth in the country in field goal percentage, 19th in assists, and 20th in blocks.

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.

COWARD JOINS THE ASSOCIATION
Cedric Coward, a 2024 WCC All-Preseason selection, and graduate of WSU, was drafted No. 11 in the 2025 NBA Draft, joining the Memphis Grizzlies after a trade. Coward, who played just six games last season prior to suffering a season-ending injury, linked up with 2024 WSU Draftee, Jaylen Wells. There are currently five Cougars playing in the NBA — Cedric Coward, Mouhamed Gueye, Isaac Jones, Klay Thompson, and Jaylen Wells.