Scouting report: No. 4 Arizona Wildcats vs. Washington State Cougars

The Star's Bruce Pascoe breaks down the starting lineups, storylines and stats as the No. 4-ranked Arizona Wildcats visit the Washington State Cougars Thursday night in Pullman. 

What: No. 4 Arizona (20-2, 10-1) at Washington State (14-7, 7-3)

Where: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.

When: 7 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports 1

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Social media: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 sophomore)

G Dalen Terry (6-6 sophomore)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-6 sophomore)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 sophomore)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 junior)

Probable starters: Washington State

G Tyrell Roberts (5-11 junior)

G Michael Flowers (6-1 senior)

F Noah Williams (6-5 junior)

F Mouhamed Gueye (6-11 freshman)

C Efe Abogidi (6-10 sophomore)

How they match up

The series: Arizona has won 17 of its past 18 games against the Cougars, including the last nine in a row played at Pullman. But the Wildcats needed two overtimes to beat WSU at Beasley Coliseum last season, when Terrell Brown banked in a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Arizona also beat the Cougars 69-53 at McKale Center on Feb. 25, 2021, when James Akinjo had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead the Wildcats.

This season: The Wildcats and Cougars will not meet at McKale Center because of the Pac-12’s unbalanced 20-game schedule. UA is scheduled to play all teams twice except for WSU at home and Oregon on the road. 

Washington State overview: Having won their past five games to climb into fourth place in the Pac-12 standings, the Cougars are suddenly in the NCAA Tournament picture. The reason: There's a more talented and efficient roster in coach Kyle Smith’s third season in the Palouse.

The Cougars shoot a lot of 3-pointers — more as a percentage of overall field goals (44.0) than any Pac-12 team — and stand out with a defense that is almost reminiscent of the "Bennett Ball" era in Pullman. Pac-12 teams are averaging just 57.6 points against Washington State, the lowest average any conference team has given up, though they have a much more difficult second-half schedule ahead.

In terms of defensive efficiency, WSU is also No. 1 in Pac-12 play, allowing conference opponents just 88.5 points per 100 possessions while ranking 22nd nationally. In Pac-12 games, the Cougars hold opponents to just 26.5% shooting from 3 and 47.0% from 2. They also have the second-highest turnover percentage in Pac-12 games, taking the ball away from opponents on 22.3% of their possessions.

Washington State lost leading scorer Isaac Bonton (17.7) from last season but returned most of its key players. Smith added veteran guard transfers Michael Flowers (South Alabama) and Tyrell Roberts (UC San Diego) while pulling four-star big man Mouhamed Gueye out of Senegal via California’s Prolific Prep.

Like Bonton, Flowers is a high-scoring point guard. He averages seven attempts from 3-point range per game and hits them at a 38.1% rate while averaging 3.2 assists per game and better than a 2-1 assist-turnover ratio. Roberts takes 6.1 3-pointers a game but shoots only 32.8% from 3-point range and 35.2% overall.

Their production has offset lower offensive numbers from key returnees Noah Williams and Efe Abogidi. Williams was one of the Pac-12’s most improved players last season; this season, he's averaging 11.1 points per game while shooting just 39% from two-point range. He has made just 10 of 50 3-pointers against Division I opponents.

Abogidi is a fearsome rim protector who blocks 9.3% of opponents’ shots when he’s on the floor, the 41st best block percentage nationally. Abogidi was named to the Pac-12’s all-freshman team last season and then invited to Nigeria’s pre-Olympic training camp, but his averages have slipped from 8.9 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game to 7.9 and 5.8. Gueye is also a rim protector who shoots 55.5% from two-point range but only 42.5% from the free-throw line.

The Cougars’ top 3-point threat is North Macedonian sophomore Andrej Jakimovski, who has shot 44.4% from 3-point range so far this season. He had three straight double-figure games. 

He said it: “They come at you on the defensive end. They want to impose their will and it's been impressive how they played so far. Efe Abogidi is very good rim protector, with the way he can move in pick-and-roll defense. Efe is maybe a little bit bigger (than Gueye) but they’re both very similar players with similar makeups and are both really athletic.

“Roberts and Flowers are pesky. They get after the ball. (The Cougars) change defenses — probably 60-70% man with some zone but their zone is good. They're aggressive and handsy, and pressure the ball in it.

“They block a large percentage of shots and when you have that protection behind you, you can be a little bit more aggressive out in the perimeter.

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"Jakimovski off the bench is a really efficient shooter. He gets open shots off penetration and post-ups, and (guard TJ) Bamba too.

“(Williams) is still a talented guy. He had some big-time scoring runs last year and you have to understand he’s one of those guys who can put up 20 on any given night.

“Obviously, pace is always a big key for us so if we can get stops on defense we can get out and run. They do a good job of playing at their own pace and they work the clock on offense. They don’t turn the ball over much. It puts a lot of pressure on our defense. We’re going to have to defend for a large majority of the shot clock." — UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Cougars

Key player (Washington State): Michael Flowers

Arizona is already pretty familiar with the Pac-12’s top two three-point makers, Oregon’s Will Richardson (2.82 per game) and ASU’s DJ Horne (2.73). The Michigan-bred Flowers is third at 2.70, making the most out of his up-transfer from South Alabama as a fifth-year senior this season.

Key player (Arizona): Bennedict Mathurin

It was in Pullman last season that the Wildcats started seeing their talented Canadian wing is often better on the road, when he’s really needed. Mathurin poured in his first 20-plus scoring effort (24) by hitting 8 of 12 from the field and 6 of 7 from the line while also playing power forward out of necessity during the Wildcats' double-overtime win.

Sidelines

The value of swag

So how much do all those blown kisses, hand gestures and punctuated words from Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa really count for?

To Washington State coach Kyle Smith, a lot, actually.

Smith's internationally focused recruiting eye caught the Estonian point guard years ago, reminding him of Frankie Ferrari, the swaggy, 6-foot point guard now playing in the G-League whom Smith coached at San Francisco. Except Kriisa is about 3 inches taller.

"He had plenty of swag. Too much," Smith said of Ferrari. "But that’s kind of what made him good. He’s the kind of guy you root against because he’s just that cocky guy, and Kriisa is that. He gives them an identity. They always really play fast and respect to him because he’s a better defender than I thought. He’ll take charges. He competes. And that’s important at that position. He makes them go."

Kriisa didn’t make the Wildcats go when they struggled early in the game and late in the first half of Monday's 91-79 win at Arizona State. Kriisa shot just 1 for 4, committing four turnovers to go with his five assists, and UA coach Tommy Lloyd pulled him aside.

"We've got to be better at controlling these things," Lloyd said. "We can't have turnovers that lead to dunks and then come down and not get a shot up at the last 10 seconds."

But Lloyd has also consistently praised Kriisa for his confidence and swagger, sticking with him even during extended shooting slumps.

He also makes sure Kriisa stays tough. Kriisa appeared to have some sort of wrist issue at ASU, but Lloyd said it was just “season stuff” that he can play through.

"You know, at this time of year, just tape some aspirin to it," Lloyd said. "We’re fine."

Cougs might dance

If the Pac-12 is going to get a fourth or fifth team in the NCAA Tournament, chances are looking good at this point that Washington State will be one of them.

The Cougars were listed in the "first four out" on ESPN’s updated Bracketology this week, and their NET of 37 suggests they could also earn an at-large berth.

But over their next five games, WSU will host UA and ASU while traveling to face Oregon, UCLA and USC.

That could be scary. But it’s also a chance to cement a postseason bid.

"I think it's great for our program just to be in that conversation," Smith said. "We’ll see with these last 10 games. We're probably going to have to perform well. But we’ve got a lot of opportunities.

"So it'll be good for us either way. If we come out on top, terrific. That's amazing. But we're pretty young in some positions. I think this group is going to stick together and keep getting better and that's what we need to do … be in this conversation every year hopefully."

No added hype necessary

But when asked if he is highlighting the opportunity ahead with his players, Smith chuckled.

"It doesn’t need to be highlighted," Smith said. "If anything, it’s 'Don’t plug into ESPN. Don’t check all that stuff. We’ve got to go possession by possession.'

"There’s gonna be ebbs and flows, ups and downs. It's 10 games in 24 days and there's gonna be a couple possessions that could define your season one way or the other. We can't get too emotional about anything."

Numbers game

12.8 — Percentage of opponents' shots Arizona blocks in Pac-12 play, the second-best block percentage in the conference.

13.0 — Percentage of opponents’ shots Washington State blocks in Pac-12 play, the best block percentage in the conference.

17 — WSU’s national power ranking on barttorvik.com. The Cougars are in the 30s in NET (37) and Kenpom (30) ratings.