WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (7-9, 2-1) vs OREGON STATE BEAVERS (8-8, 1-2)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2026
4:32 p.m. PT
Spokane, Washington
Numerica Veterans Arena
Capacity: 12,210

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: Trevor Williams
Analyst: Matt Muehlebach
Producer: David Feldman

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: 132-175 (at WSU: 81-62)
vs OSU at Veterans Arena: 3-0
First Meeting: Jan. 8, 1907 (14-30)
Last Meeting: Feb. 6, 2025 (74-82)

OPENING TIPS
1. The sixth-most played series in college basketball history continues, Sunday, January 4, with the 308th all-time meeting between Washington State and Oregon State. Tip off is scheduled for 4:32 p.m. from Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane, Washington and live on ESPN+. 
2. True freshman Ace Glass is a two-time WCC Freshman of the Week after leading the Cougars in scoring to close nonconference play and breaking the WSU freshman single-game scoring record with 40 points vs ASU. The Rialto, California native leads WSU averaging 15.4 ppg, seventh in the WCC, best by a freshman, and 16th nationally for a freshman.
3. ND Okafor recorded his first-career double-double to close 2025, scoring 11 points and adding a career-best 12 rebounds. Okafor is leading the team in efficiency, shooting the ball 57% from the floor. Okafor is second in the WCC in blocks (29) and ranks 25th nationally, having recorded a rejection in 11-straight games.
4. Eemeli Yalaho averages 9.5 points per game and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game, 11th in WCC. The Finn scored 14 points with 10 rebounds to close nonconference, his third double-double as a Coug. Yalaho has led the Cougs in rebounding seven times.
5. Washington State and Oregon State have met 12 times on neutral courts, mostly in conference tournaments. However, WSU has hosted OSU at Spokane Arena three times in program history, dating back to a 1997 victory over the Beavers in the Lilac City. WSU is 3-0 against OSU in Spokane.

LAST TIME OUT
Washington State defeated LMU in the first West Coast Conference home game, Friday night, at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars overcame a 14-point first-half deficit and rallied in the final minute after trailing in the final 30 seconds of the game. Four Cougars scored in double figures, led by junior Rihards Vavers scoring 17 points with a career-high five made 3-point field goals. True freshman Ace Glass finished with 16 points, including the game-winning floater, banked off the glass for the lead with 10 seconds remaining. Glass earned the foul and converted at the free throw line to give WSU a 2-point lead it defended to the final buzzer.

SERIES HISTORY WITH Oregon state
Washington State and Oregon State have played 307 games, sixth-most of any series in Division-I history. The Beavers hold the all-time advantage 175-132. Last season, WSU and OSU met just once, in Corvallis, picking up Coach Riley's first win over Oregon State. The Cougars have hosted Oregon State in Spokane three times previously. In the first meeting at Spokane Veterans Arena, January 11, 1997, the Cougars beat OSU, 80-64. Over 15 years later, Wazzu returned to Veterans Arena to host the Beavers, Dec. 31, 2011, earning an 81-76 victory. The Cougs most recently beat OSU in Spokane, Jan. 4, 2017, improving to 3-0 against the Beavers in the Lilac City.

ABOUT THE beavers
The Beavers have hit double-figure 3-pointers in five of their last nine games and are shooting 45.7 percent from the floor in the second half of games this year. Eleven different Beavers have scored in double-figures at least once this season, led by leading scoring Josiah Lake II at 13.9 points per game. OSU is excellent at the free throw line, shooting 77.1% as a team.

OKAFOR BLOCKS MORE
Returning redshirt-junior ND Okafor is the Cougars leading rim protector, having led the Cougs 12 times in single-game blocks, totalling 29 on the season, second in WCC and 25th nationally. The Irishman has registered at least one rejection in 11 consecutive games, including a career-high five blocks against Nevada, Dec. 7. Against Seattle U, Okafor recorded his first-career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Okafor delivered a career-high 27 points against Southern Utah, shooting 12-of-14 from the floor for the best single-game percentage by a Coug with as many attempts since at least 1996.

UP NEXT
Washington State will play at Saint Mary's Saturday, January 10, in Moraga, California. The Cougars and Gaels are scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Last season, the Cougs dropped a close home contest to the Gaels, 75-80, in January, before falling to SMC in Moraga in February.

PICK YOUR POISON
Five Cougars average 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. Both Okafor and Yalaho have each recorded double-doubles.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
WSU ranks fifth 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 23.5% defended offensive rebounding percentage. In the Dec. 30 loss to Seattle U, the Cougars grabbed 54 rebounds the most in a single-game since pulling down 58 rebounds against Oregon in 1997. WSU outrebounded the Redhawks 54-28, a +26 rebounding margin, the largest of Coach Riley's tenure and the second +20 rebounding margin for the Cougs this season.

GO YALAHO GO
Junior Texas Tech transfer Eemeli Yalaho has quietly become a double-double threat, delivering three this season. The Finn is averaging 9.5 points per game and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game. Twice this season Yalaho has pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and scored 10+ points on 10 occasions.

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 Veterans Arena. The Cougars are 3-0 against the Beavers all-time at Numerica Veterans Arena.

AARON ACES NONCONFERENCE
True freshman Ace Glass has stepped into a leading roll for the Cougars, averaging a team-high 15.4 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, best by a freshman, and 16th nationally by a freshman.

MORTON MOJO
Junior Morehead State transfer Jerone Morton has found his footing, sharing ballhandling responsibilities through 13 starts in 16 games, and leading the team in assists seven times. Morton is averaging 6.6 points per game, 2.5 assists per game, and just under one steal per game. In the Cougs' win over LMU, January 2, Morton delivered a season-high 15 points, matching his career-high with three 3-point field goals. 

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 20 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.

CONTROL THE ROCK
Washington State has struggled to control the ball in several key areas including turnovers forced, assists, turnover margin, and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Cougars are forcing just 10.2 turnovers per game, 334th in Division-I. The Cougars ranked 319th in assists per game, dishing just 12.0 assists per game. WSU 344th nationally with a negative turnover margin of -3.4, while ranking 329th nationally with a 0.88 assist-to-turnover ratio.

ROAD WARRIORS
Cougs have played the 54th toughest schedule in the country according to NCAA NET rankings. WSU has traveled over 16,500 miles and played games in four time zones. 

LINE IN THE SAND
As a team, Washington State is shooting the ball at 45.6%. When the Cougars shoot over 50%, they are 6-1, but are just 1-8 when held under 50% shooting. The Cougs are also 6-2 this season when scoring 70+ points, however when they are held under 70 points, WSU is 1-7.

UNFORCED ERRORS
In non-steal turnovers, the Cougars rank 340th, with the majority of the Cougars turnovers as unforced errors. 

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. 

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, Dec. 17. The WSU bench scored a season high 67 points in the Maui opening win over Chaminade and averages 29.1 ppg from the rotation, outscoring opponent benches by an average of 6.5 points per game.

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. 

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 7.2 ppg and 3.8 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.

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 16 games. The Catalonia kid is averaging 2.3 assists per game, including some eye-popping between-the-legs passes through heavy traffic. Adria has also led the team in steals six times.

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.