OPENING TIPS
1. The Washington State men’s basketball program play their first road game of the 2026-27 season at High Point in High Point, North Carolina at 2:00 p.m. in Qubein Center with coverage on ESPN+. WSU will play the Panthers for the second time in program history, winning the lone match up 78-71 on December 21, 2002, in Spokane Arena. It is Wazzu’s first of two straight games on the road, closing their road trip in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, November 10 to take on the Duquense Dukes at 4:00 p.m. the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
2. The Cougs dropped Monday night’s season opener 61-76 against the Davidson Wildcats. Three different Cougs scored double figures (Harrell, Phillips and Robinson) with 35 points coming off the bench. The Wildcats made 12 field goals beyond the arc, shooting 54.7% from the field.
3. 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.
4. WSU is looking to avoid losing their first two games of the season for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Since 1970, WSU has only gone 0-2 to start a season two times (also: 1972-73).
UP NEXT
The Cougars will continue their road trip, traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to face Duquesne University, Tuesday, November 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. PT. It will be the first ever meeting between the two programs.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST GAME?
In WSU’s 61-76 lost to Davidson on November 2, Washington State saw 11 players make their debut with the Cougs, with six players playing 20 or more minutes. It was WSU’s lowest scoring mark since opening the 2020-21 season with a 56-2 victory over Texas Southern, Junior Jamari Phillips led the way with 26 minutes played, recording a career-high 11 points and knocking down two from behind the arc. Redshirt-freshman Jaylen Harrell played 25 minutes off the bench, recording a team and career-high 13 points, including nine in the second half. It was Harrell’s first double-figure game in his career. The duo combined to record five of the seven steals for the Cougs. Dominik Robinson recorded 10 points off the bench in his first game action as a Coug, going 5-for-9 from the field with four rebounds.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (VS. DAVIDSON)
The Cougs forced 14 turnovers against Davidson, their most turnovers forces since Jan. 24, 2026, vs. Pepperdine (15 TO). Sophomore Tyler Kropp led the Cougs with six rebounds and junior RJ Jones led with four assists. In six minutes played, junior Fraser Roxburgh recorded five rebounds. Despite the loss, the Cougs outperformed the Wildcats in points off turnovers (19-4), points in the paint (32-24) and bench points (35-3).
ROAD WOES
WSU 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. In road openers under head coach David Riley, the Cougs are 1-1 overall. Since 2020-21, Wazzu is 3-3 in road openers, going 1-3 in their last four.
HOME OPENERS
The Cougars are now 102-24 all-time in season openers, also moving to 63-10 when opening the season at home. Have 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). The Cougs went 11-5 last season when outrebounding their opponent vs 1-15 when losing the board battle.
GET AHEAD EARLY, SUSTAIN THE LEAD, SCORE MORE POINTS
Since last season, the Cougs are 1-14 when trailing at halftime and 2-13 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. Sophomore Lazerek Houston went 12-24 from the free throw line and led the team with four assists and 29 minutes played. 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.