LMU LIONS (17-14, 8-10) vs WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (18-13, 8-10)

SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2025
8:30 p.m. PT (11:30 p.m. ET)
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Orleans Arena
Capacity: 9,500

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

STREAMING ON ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Dave Flemming
Analyst: Dan Dickau
Sideline: Jordan Robinson
Producer: Evan Schlaff

OPENING TIPS
1. WSU enters the Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship as the No. 6 seed in the third round of the tournament, Saturday, March 8 at 8:30 p.m. at The Orleans Arena. The Cougars will face LMU, who they met once this season, a WSU win, Dec. 30. Wazzu last played in Vegas to conclude the nonconference schedule with a win over Northern Iowa at Orleans Arena, Dec. 21, 2024.
2. First-year head coach David Riley has guided the Cougs to the most wins by a first-year coach since Tony Bennett won 26 games in 2006-07. Riley led WSU to its 2nd-most wins by a first-year coach in program history and ensured a .500+ record for the 6th-consecutive season.
3. WSU ranks top-30 in the country in five team categories: 13th in overall FG% (.490), 15th in 2-point FG% (.578), 16th in effective FG% (.565), 17th in blocks per game (5.0), and 28th in assists per game (16.5).
4. LeJuan Watts became the second Coug in program history to record a triple-double, at Santa Clara, Jan. 23. Watts' triple-double was the first of his career, the second all-time at WSU after Kyle Weaver at Stanford, Jan. 13, 2007.
5. The Cougars are the top shot-blocking team in the WCC, leading the League with 156 blocks, 33 more than the next-closest WCC team. ND Okafor leads WSU with 36 total blocks (3rd in WCC).

THREE COUGS EARN ALL-WCC HONORS
The West Coast Conference announced all-conference teams Tuesday, March 4 with three Washington State student-athletes earning recognition. True freshman Tomas Thrastarson was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team after playing in 28 games with 10 starts, averaging 4.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 18 blocks. WSU junior Nate Calmese and redshirt-sophomore LeJuan Watts both earned All-WCC Honorable Mention. Calmese led WSU in scoring at 15.0 ppg, with 4.1 apg, and 1.5 spg. Watts earned his second all-conference career honor with 13.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 4.4 apg, while delivering eight double-doubles and a triple-double.

UP NEXT
Washington State returns to Las Vegas and Orleans Arena for the second time this season for the Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship. The Cougars finished sixth in the WCC and enter the tournament Saturday, March 8 in the third round. WSU will meet the winner of Friday night's second round game and will face LMU or San Diego at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
Washington State defeated Pepperdine, 90-83, March 1 in Los Angeles, securing the No. 6 seed for the CU1 WCC Basketball Championship next week. The Cougar bench stepped up, providing 35 bench points to the Waves' six reserve points. Wazzu dished out a season-high 26 assists, its most in a single game in six seasons. WSU committed just nine turnovers. Dane Erikstrup scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds. Ethan Price added 15 points with three 3-point field goals. Nate Calmese recorded 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists.

WSU RECORD IN CONFERENCE  TOURNEYS
WSU is 9-24 all-time in conference tournaments, dating back to the Pacific-8 Tournament. WSU has won at least one game of the conference tournament in four of the last five seasons, including a victory last March over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament before bowing out in the semifinals to Colorado.

PICK YOUR POISON
The Cougars have distributed scoring across the majority of the playing rotation with all five starters averaging 10+ points. At least four Cougs have scored in double figures 16 times, while six different individuals have tallied 20-point performances.

DEAD EYE GETS THE DUB
The Cougars post a 17-1 record when shooting a higher percentage than their opponent, in contrast WSU is 1-12 when shooting worse from the floor than its opponent. The Cougs' only loss when shooting better than their opponent came at Pacific, Jan, 30, when WSU shot 51.1% from the floor and the Tigers shot 47.5%. 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.

SHARING THE ROCK
The Cougs dished out a season-high 26 assists in the win over Pepperdine, March 1, marking the most single-game assists in six seasons. WSU boasts a 15-5 record when tallying 15+ assists. In contrast, the Cougs are 3-8 when delivering fewer than 15 assists.

TURNOVER TROUBLE
The Cougars average 14.8 turnovers per game, 10th worst in the country or 346th overall. When Wazzu commits 14 or fewer turnovers, it boasts a 9-4 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 this season. Surprisingly, WSU's record with 20+ turnovers is 3-1 while the record with fewer than 10 turnovers is 1-2.

REBOUNDING ROLLERCOASTER
Washington State has delivered a roller coaster performance on the glass this season, outrebounding its opponent 15 times with 12 wins, while being boxed out 13 times with just four wins. The Cougs win 80% of games when they win the glass battle and just 31% when their lose the glass battle.

TALE OF TWO HALVES
The Cougs average 38.8 points per first half, 2.7 points more than their opponent, but average 39.3 points per second half, 2.4 points fewer than their opponent. When the Cougs enter halftime with the lead, they hold a 15-4 record, while being just 3-9 when trailing at intermission. Wazzu is 11-3 when outscoring its opponent in the second half, and just 5-10 when the opponent scores more in the second stanza.

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

LAST TIME IN SIN CITY
WSU defeated Northern Iowa, 76-68, Dec. 21, at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to conclude nonconference play. LeJuan Watts secured his fifth double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Nate Calmese led the Cougs with 16 points and six rebounds. Tomas Thrastarson made his first career start in place of an injured Isaiah Watts and finished with a career-high seven points. Dane Erikstrup tallied 15 points in the win. The Cougars shot an eye-watering 72.4% in the first half, finishing the game 59.3% from the floor (32-of-54) and improved to 8-0 when shooting over 50%. WSU also dished out 23 assists, improving to 10-0 when delivering 15+ assists.

LAST TIME VS LMU
The Cougars defeated LMU, 73-59, Dec. 30, at Spokane Arena in the inaugural WCC home game, improving to 12-3 and 2-0 in WCC play. True freshman Tomas Thrastarson had his best game of the year with a career-high 17 points and career-high six rebounds.  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. Isaiah Watts missed his third-consecutive of 10 games with a left hand injury.

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 13th nationally in 2-point field goal percentage.

'ZAY RETURNS AS STARTER
Isaiah Watts, the only returning letterwinner from the 2023-24 roster, returned from an injury in his non-shooting hand suffered at Washington, Dec. 18. Zay returned after missing 10 games, at Pacific, Jan. 30. In his second game back, at Oregon State, the sophomore delivered 11 points for his first double-digit performance since Dec. 14 and delivered 10+ in four consecutive games. Watts is on pace to quadruple his scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals output from his freshman season. In just 10 games, the West Seattle sophomore  eclipsed his freshman season totals in points, rebounding, steals, and assists. Three times this season Isaiah has surpassed 20 points, including a career-high 22 points against Eastern Washington.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Ethan Price, a senior transfer from Eastern Washington, has started all 131 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
WSU boasts the top 2-point percentage and effective FG percentage in the WCC. The Cougs' 2-point percentage of 57.8% ranks 13th nationally, while their overall FG% of 49.0% is 13th in the country and their effective FG% of .565 ranks 16th in Division-I as of March 7. 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.

CALMESE CROSSES 1K
Junior Nate Calmese eclipsed 1,000 career points scored with his fourth field goal at Oregon State, Feb. 6. The Arizona native accomplished the feat in 72 career games, averaging 14.1 points per game. Calmese averages a team-best 15.0 ppg and has led WSU in scoring 14 times.

RIM PROTECTORS
The Cougar team leads the WCC and ranks 17th in the country with 5.0 blocked shots per game. WSU boasts three of the top 15 shot blockers in the conference with Okafor at third, Price at 11th, and Erikstrup at 12th. As a team, WSU has swatted away a league-best 156 shot attempts, 33 more than the next-closest WCC team.

'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 program 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 registered eight double-doubles this year. He ranks sixth in the WCC in assists (4.4), 10th in rebounding (6.6), and 14th in the League in scoring (13.3).

TINKERING WITH TEMPO
The Cougs are averaging 78.5 points per game, third in the WCC behind Gonzaga and 65th nationally. WSU is 5-12 when being held under 80 points. By contrast, the Cougs are 13-1 when scoring at least 80 points.

ROAD TO RECOVERY?
The Cougars suffered extreme injury losses early in the season. NBA prospect and preseason All-WCC selection Cedric Coward played six games before suffering a season-ending injury in his left shoulder that required surgery in December. True freshman and backup point guard Marcus Wilson suffered a shoulder injury after four games and had season-ending shoulder surgery. Sophomore Rihards Vavers returned to action at Santa Clara, Jan. 23, for just his third game of action and first since Dec. 2, after separate hand injuries sidelined him most of November-January. Isaiah Watts recently returned after missing 10 games at the start of WCC play with a left hand injury.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS
The Cougars concluded the nonconference schedule at 10-3, earning 10 nonconference wins for the first time since 2010-11, a squad that ultimately reached the NIT semifinals at MSG with junior Klay Thompson.

TOMAS TEASES TALENT
With a short bench and Isaiah Watts injured, true freshman Tomas Thrastarson made his first career start against Northern Iowa, Dec. 21, and held the starting spot until Watts' return Jan. 30. 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 four times.

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 four times, including his second Cougar double-double with 15 points and career-high 12 rebounds in the win at Pepperdine to conclude the regular season.

OKAFOR BACK ON THE FLOOR
Redshirt-sophomore 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 third in the WCC with 1.2 blocks per game, recording at least one block in 22 of 29 games played. In the Nov. 15 game against Iowa, Okafor pulled in five boards to eclipse 100 career rebounds. Okafor twice matched his season-high in WCC play, scoring 12 points in both meetings with Portland before delivering a career high 13 points in the win at Pepperdine, March 1.