The (9-10 SU and ATS) Washington State Cougars and (12-7 SU, 10-9 ATS) Utah Utes will take the floor on Thursday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Washington State, 1-4 on the road, beat Stanford by one point on Saturday. Utah, 8-3 at home, lost by 15 at USC in its last game.
The Utes beat the Cougars 67-65 in overtime on Dec. 4 in Pullman. Utah is 27-5 all-time versus Washington State.
Tip-off from Salt Lake City, UT, is at 9:00 p.m. ET. The Utes are three-point spread favorites, and the game total is 130 points.
The Cougars are 9-10, but as a few of their Pac-12 rivals found out recently, they're not easily tamed. Winners of four of its past five, Washington State ended No. 5 Arizona's 28-game home winning streak and picked up additional wins over USC, Cal, and Stanford. Before that, they lost by just one point versus UCLA.
In their latest victory, the Cougars outlasted the Cardinal on 45.8 percent shooting. Stanford outrebounded Washington State 35-23, with 13 offensive rebounds, but didn't find the bottom of the net enough to win on the road. Junior forward Andrej Jakimovski contributed a season-high 17 points, and senior forward DJ Rodman added 15, combining for nine three-pointers.
Three in a row powered by nine big 3s from the vets. The one true #NerdBall #GoCougs #WAZZU pic.twitter.com/VlBqhh598Z
— WSU Men's Basketba ll (@WSUCougarMBB) January 16, 2023
WSU scores 69.0 points on 43.8 percent shooting, including 37.0 percent from three-point range. The Cougars shoot 71.0 percent from the free throw line and average 32.3 rebounds with a +3.2 rebounding margin. They're 54th nationally in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Junior guard TJ Bamba averages 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Other key players to watch are sophomore forward Mouhamed Gueye (13.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG), junior guard Jabe Mullins (11.2 PPG, 47.5 FG%, 48.8 3PT%, and 94.4 FT%), junior guard Justin Powell (10.1 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 2.9 APG), and Rodman (9.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG).
The Cougars surrender 64.9 points on 44.2 percent shooting, including 29.8 percent from behind the arc (36th-lowest in D-1). They're 75th in schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency and 234th in assist-per-turnover ratio (0.91).