OPENING TIPS
1. The Cougars are back in Beasley Coliseum after a two-game road trip on the east coast. WSU hosts Northwest (Wash.) Saturday, November 14, with tip-off scheduled for 10 a.m. PT with coverage on Pac-12 YouTube. It will be the first ever meeting between the two programs, the second straight game the Cougs have faced a program for the first time.
2. The Cougs fell to 0-3 this season with a 71-72 loss to the Dukes on Tuesday. Jaylen Harrell led the way with 19 points, going 7-for-10 from the field (3-for-5 from three). It was Harrell’s third straight game in double figures. Tyler Kropp recorded 10 points with two threes off the bench for his second 10+ point game of his career. Lazrek Houston led the team with 29 minutes played and recorded his second straight 10+ point contest and had five assists. Ronnie Harrison made his Coug debut in his start, recording six points and five boards.
3. WSU is looking for their first win of the season and slow down their opponent. In their first three games, opposing teams are averaging 77.0 points per game and shooting .548% from the field (.400 from beyond the arc). The Cougs have given up 24.0 points per game in the paint.
4. The Cougars are led by third-year head coach David Riley, with two returners, 14 newcomers (one freshman, three academy/club) and 10 transfers. Four transfers are from power four conferences. Riley is seven wins away from 100 career wins as a head coach.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will travel to Everett, Washington to take on Hawai’i on Wednesday, November 18 at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be played at the Angel of the Winds Arena. It will be the first basketball game in the arena since the Seattle Storm played all 16 home games of their 2021 season in the venue.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST GAME?
In the tough 71-72 loss at Duquesne, the Cougs held a 39-30 lead at half thanks to a buzzer beating three by Jaylen Harrell in the closing seconds of the half. The foul trouble caught up to the Cougs, recording 14 fouls in the secon half, giving the Dukes plenty of opprotunities at the free throw line (15-19 in the second half), compared the Cougs two free throw attempts. WSU would lead for most of the contest (17:42), leading by as much as 11 in the second half, but the Dukes shot 52% from the field in the second half (13-25) and used a couple of offensive boards to propel them for the one-point win. Three Cougs finish in double-figures, with Harrell leading the way with 19 points, going 7-for-10 from the field (3-5 from three), with four rebounds and a team-tying five assists. It was his third straight contest recording a career-high in points. Lazerek Houston finished with 12 points and added five assists, his 19th career game recording 5+ assists. Tyler Kropp would round out the double-figure scoring for the Cougs and added a career-high two triples to round out his second career game with 10+ points. WSU turned 13 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points and recorded a season-high 19 assists and nine steals. It is their first one-point loss on the road since a 66-67 defeat on February 25 at LMU last season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jaylen Harrell made his second career start with a career-high 19 points and is the only Coug with 10+ points in each of the first three games. Ronnie Harrison made his Coug debut after missing the first two games with an ankle injury. Tyler Kropp recorded his second career game scoring in double-figures (also: Jan. 21, 2026 at USC) and recorded a career-high two threes. Lazerek Houston recorded his 35th career game with 10+ points and his second straight scoring in double figures. Four different Cougs recorded 2+ threes with three different Cougs tying for a team-high five rebounds (Harrison, Akins and Robinson). It is the third time in program history the Cougars have started season 0-3 (also: 1964-65 and 1951-52).
THERE ARE TWO HALVES
In their first three games, the Cougs have been outscored 111-145 (-24) by their opponents in the second half, compared to 92-96 (-4) in the first half. At the charity stripe, WSU opponents attempted 29 and 19 free throws in the second half in their last two contests and overall have had 33 fewer free throw attempts this season (21 to 54). Despite more made threes in the second half (16 to 10), opponents are shooting at a higher clip from beyond arc (.390 to .455). The Cougs 67.7 points per game in their first three games is the lowest since their 67.7 points per game to start the 2022-23 season.
JAYLEN HARRELL NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Washington State guard Jaylen Harrell was named the Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. Harrell, a redshirt-freshman transfer from Providence, shined in his first two games as Coug and averaged 15.5 points per game. In the first start of his career on Nov. 7 at High Point, Harrell recorded 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field with two threes. In three games this season, Harrell leads the team in points per game (16.7), field goal percentage (66.7%) and minutes per game (27.9). He is also tied for the team lead with nine assists. Among Pac-12 players through Nov. 12, Harrell ranks tied-third in field goal percentage (.650) and tied for ninth in points per game.
HOUSTON IS YOUR PROBLEM
Sophomore guard Lazerek Houston made a statement in WSU’s second game of the season on Nov. 7 at High Point. Houston recorded his eighth career game with 30+ points, recording 31 points, going 9-of-13 and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. It was the most points scored by a Coug since Ace Glass recorded 40 points against Arizona State on Nov. 25, 2025. It is also the most points by a Coug in a true road game since Myles Rice’s 35 points at Stanford (Jan. 18, 2024). Houston’s 18 points in the first half were the most by a Coug since Tómas Thrastarson (also: 18 points on Nov. 10, 2025 vs. St. Thomas). In three games, the Lincoln, Nebraska native is averaging 15.3 points per game and is shooting 64.6% (7-11) from beyond the arc. He is also 11-for-13 (.846) from the charity stripe. Houston and Ladji Dembele are the only two Cougs to start in every game this season.
ROAD WOES
WSU have lost their last 10 games on the road, with their last road win on Dec. 28, 2025 at Portland (67-62). Washington State went 1-11 on the road last season, one of 27 schools in the country with one or fewer road wins during the 2025-26 season.
HOME OPENERS
The Cougars are 102-24 all-time in season openers and 63-10 when opening the season at home. In their home opener at Beasley, the Cougs lost 61-76 to Davidson. It was their lowest point total in a season opener since a 56-52 win over Texas Southern on November 25, 2020. WSU has now dropped back-to-back home openers, losing to the University of Idaho 81-83 in 2025, snapping their 29-game winning streak in home season openers. It also snapped a 35-season winning streak in the first game of the season at Beasley.
FRIEL THE HEAT
In Coach Riley’s three seasons with WSU, he is 19-11 (.633) overall at home and 11-7 overall (.611) in conference play at home. Went 9-6 overall at home last season, and 6-3 at Beasley against conference foes. In his five seasons as head coach, has a 50-17 (.746) overall record at home (31-6 at Eastern Washington). In home openers under Riley, the Cougars are now 1-2 overall. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, WSU is 68-27 at home (.716).
GET AHEAD EARLY, SUSTAIN THE LEAD, SCORE MORE POINTS
Since last season, the Cougs are 1-15 when trailing at halftime and 2-15 when outscored by their opponent in the second half. When scoring less than 70 points, WSU is 1-14 overall. Recorded an 11-7 record when recording 70+ points in 2025-26. The Cougs failed to record a win when trailing in the final five minutes of the game, going 0-16 in those contests. When having a lower field goal percentage than their opponent, WSU went 1-15 overall.
HARRISON AND DEMBELE NAMED TO PAC-12 IMPACT LIST, COUGS PICKED EIGHTH IN MEDIA POLL
Entering the 2026-27 season as a member of the Pac-12 conference, Washington State forwards Ronnie Harrison and Ladji Dembele were named to the Pac-12 Impact List, the conference office announced. The Cougs were also picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 Conference Preseason Media poll ahead of the 2026-27 season.
COUGS IN EXHIBITION
Washington State played two exhibition games, both on the road. The Cougars lost 64-92 to preseason Mountain West favorites New Mexico on Oct. 18 at The Pit. 12 Cougs appeared in the game with 10 players playing for 10 or more minutes. WSU then faced off against former Pac-12 foe and rival University of Washington on Sunday, Oct. 25. WSU came away from Seattle with the 84-80 win, mounting a 10-point deficit in the first half. Senior, Ronnie Harrison led the team with 23 points and 11 rebounds, recording an individual 10-0 run in the second half to secure the lead. It was the first time since 2015 the Cougs have played two exhibitions before their home opener.
NEW LOOK COUGS
WSU returns just two players from the 2025-26 roster, sophomore Dio Blakely and freshman Dominik Robinson. The Cougars have 14 new players wearing the Crimson and Gray this season, 10 transfers, three Academy/Club players and one high school. Four of those transfers come from the Power Four level (Northwestern, Oregon, TCU and Wake Forest). Sophomore Dio Blakely played only six minutes of the 6,400 total minutes played by Cougs last season. None of the current players on the WSU roster made a field goal from beyond the arc for the Cougars prior to the start of the season.
CONTRACT EXTENSION
WSU 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 launched 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.
NBA COUGS
Five former Cougs are on NBA rosters: Isaac Jones (Detroit Pistons), Klay Thompson (Miami Heat), Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies), Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies) and Mouhamed Gueye (Atlanta Hawks). Cedric Coward was named to the All-Rookie First team for the 2025-26 NBA season. Coward averaged 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, finishing fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. Coward was the second straight former Coug to be named to the All-Rookie First team (also: Jaylen Wells, 2024-25). Wells finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2024-25.