Washington State (6-10, 1-4) at No. 5 Arizona (14-1, 3-1) • McKale Center • 3 p.m. • Pac-12 Networks • 1290-AM, Varsity Network
PROBABLE STARTERS
ARIZONA
G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 junior)
G Courtney Ramey (6-3 senior)
F Pelle Larsson (6-5 junior)
F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 junior)
C Oumar Ballo (7-0 junior)
WASHINGTON STATE
G Justin Powell (6-6 junior)
G TJ Bamba (6-5 junior)
F Andrej Jakimovski (6-8 junior)
F DJ Rodman (6-6 senior)
C Mouhamed Gueye (6-11 sophomore)
HOW THEY MATCH UP
The series: Arizona leads the Cougars 69-178 alltime and has won 18 of the last 19 matchups. WSU last beat UA 69-55 at McKale Center in the 2018-19 season and took the Wildcats to double overtime at WSU in 2020-21. Last season, the teams met only once last season, with UA winning 72-60 in Pullman, Washington. Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting while UA shot 49.1% and held WSU to just 34.2% shooting.
This season: The Huskies and Cougars will meet again in 19 days at Pullman, Washington.
WSU overview: Having improved their Kenpom.com rating every one of Kyle Smith’s previous three seasons in Pullman, the Cougars are having trouble getting over the hump so far in this one. Playing without center Dishon Jackson (injury) and guard Myles Rice (cancer) all season, WSU has lost five games by six points or fewer, including a 67-66 loss to UCLA on Dec. 30. They beat USC 81-71 on Jan. 1 but then lost a two-possession game again on Thursday at ASU, 77-71.
The Cougars are mediocre in most statistical categories, though a high percentage of their shots (42.8) are 3-pointers and they hit them at a 36.2% rate. In raw statistical terms, WSU leads the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made with an average of 8.7 3 per game.
Three perimeter threats throw up the majority of 3s: Reserve guard Jabe Mullins hit 5 of 9 3s at ASU on Thursday and is now shooting an even 50% from long range this season, while, among the backcourt starters, TJ Bamba is 27 for 72 (37.5%) and Justin Powell is 36 of 92 (39.1%).
Named to the Pac-12’s all-freshman team last season, center Mouhamed Gueye has collected six double-doubles this season. He’s shooting 53.9% of his two-pointers while pulling down his teammates’ missed shots 13.5% of the time when he’s on the floor, the 70th best offensive rebounding percentage in Division I. When Gueye is out, the Cougars will either turn to slender freshman 7-footer Adrame Diongue or go smaller with forwards DJ Rodman or Andrej Jakimovski at center.
In his fourth season at WSU, Rodman has evolved into a consistent threat for the Cougars, averaging 8.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game while also leading the Cougars with 18 drawn charges, twice as many as any of his teammates. He's also a credible 3-point threat (33.8%).
He said it: “They’ve been close in a lot of games. They’re much better than their record. They have very good shooters. They have five double-figure scorers in conference and a very athletic and skilled big man that they can space the floor around. It’s a dangerous combination.”
Bamba “has really improved. He’s a strong guard, he’s shooting the ball well this year and playing with a lot of confidence. (Mullins) is a big-time shooter, one of the best in the conference. He can make them in a lot of different ways. He’s very good off pin-down screens and knows how to move without the basketball.
“(Gueye) is playing with more confidence this year. He can score inside and score outside. He's athletic enough to finish at the rim.”
Defensively, “they’re gonna try and keep the ball on the side. They're aggressive defensively. I think they're a good defensive ballclub. Gueye is really the only true big that they play but the rest of their guys are all 6-5, 6-6, long, athletic. They have the ability to switch and play physically.”
--UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Cougars.
KEY PLAYERS
WASHINGTON STATE
TJ Bamba
In his third year at WSU, the Bronx product with ties to Senegal and Denver has become one of the Cougars’ leaders and a more efficient offensive player. Shooting 37.5% from 3 and 47.9% from two, Bamba has scored in double figures 13 games this season, including three times with 20 or more points.
ARIZONA
Courtney Ramey
After the UA grad transfer guard struggled in a 20-minute effort on Thursday against Washington, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he wouldn’t be surprised if Ramey “came out Saturday and played his ass off.” Certainly, the Wildcats will need Ramey’s help defending the Cougars’ outside shooters.
SIDELINES
McKale madness
When he complained about a lack of vocal UA fans after the Wildcats’ first-round NCAA Tournament game over Wright State in San Diego last season, UA coach Tommy Lloyd found a much more responsive Wildcat crowd that turned out to be needed two days later in UA's overtime win against TCU.
Similarly, the Wildcats also may have needed every ounce of the fan support they received Thursday in a 70-67 win over Washington, when the majority of McKale Center fans stood up for over five minutes late in the first half and most of the second half.
No doubt, Lloyd wants to see that sort of electricity continue.
“We need them to be full participants,” Lloyd said after Thursday’s game. “I want Arizona basketball fans to come and be part of the experience. I don't want them to come and sit on their hands.
"If they want to sit on their hands, that's their choice because they bought the ticket. But they can also watch it at home and give it to a friend who's going to come and let it rip. And I thought tonight we had great fans. They made an incredible environment.”
Ballo was hospitalized
Because UA center Oumar Ballo played a season-high 34 minutes Thursday, collecting 15 points and seven rebounds, it would have been easy for Lloyd to keep a secret.
Instead, the UA coach mentioned after Thursday’s game that Ballo actually became so sick after the Wildcats beat ASU on Dec. 31 that he had to be hospitalized for reasons Lloyd declined to detail. Ballo missed the Wildcats’ practices on Monday and Tuesday, then returned to practice only partially on Wednesday.
“Oumar deserves a bunch of credit,” Lloyd said. “For him to come out and give it up for his teammates says something about his character and him as a man. I'm really proud that he's on our side. Without him today, we don't get this done.”
The Coug Life
A Thursday-Saturday combination during the Pac-12 season can be rougher for teams who play the afternoon slots, cutting the prep time for the Saturday game to a minimum.
WSU coach Kyle Smith said a 3 p.m. tipoff is actually the "trickiest" of all, forcing a team to decide whether it’s worth cramming in a morning pregame shootaround or not.
“If it’s 1 p.m. or earlier, we don't really do anything. We just go play," Smith says. "Later than that it gets tricky. But we’ll figure something out.”
While the good news about early games for road teams is often that they have a chance to get home the same night. But that isn’t the case for the Cougars, either.
While UA flies charter directly after its games at WSU, Smith said the Cougars won’t be able to hit the airport until Sunday morning.
Multiple airports, that is.
“I think it’s Tucson-Seattle and then Seattle-Spokane and then an hour and 20 (drive time) home, baby,” Smith said, chuckling. “That’s how the Cougs roll.”
Numbers game
0 — Arizona games worked by Bill Walton this season until Saturday’s telecast on Pac-12 Networks, for which he’ll join Ted Robinson for the call.
8 — Straight wins for Arizona, the eighth-longest streak in Division I.
17 — Washington State’s ranking in average height (6 feet, 6.6 inches), as weighted by minutes played under a Kenpom.com calculation.
— Bruce Pascoe
