The WSU men’s basketball team had an eventful winter break full of games where they went 3-3. The Cougars now sit at 9-7 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 play.

Junior Brock Motum has been a beast of late, pouring in 27 against Utah and 26 against Oregon State in back-to-back games to push his season average to 15.7 points per game.

In their first game during the break on Dec. 18, the Cougs took on Western Oregon in Pullman. WSU came out on top of the Wolves by a score of 66-42.

Senior Marcus Capers led the Cougs with nine points, as he was one of 11 different Cougar players to score in the game. WSU used a crucial 20-5 run during the second half to cruise to victory.

In their following game, the Cougs travelled to Seattle to host their annual Cougar Hardwood Classic on Dec. 22. WSU extended their record to 7-0 at the Hardwood Classic as they defeated the Pepperdine Waves 67-56.

Senior Faisal Aden led the Cougs with 17 points off the bench and freshman DaVonte Lacy added 15 points for WSU.

The victory marked the sixth straight win for the Cougs to close non-conference play as they prepared to open Pac-12 play.

In their Pac-12 opener, played at the Spokane Arena on Dec. 29, the Cougs couldn’t extend their six-- game winning streak. The Cougs couldn’t keep up with Oregon’s hot shooting, as the Ducks nailed 69 percent of their shots, including 56-percent from three-point range.

Oregon’s senior forward Olu Ashaolu dominated the Cougs as he racked up 23 points and 10 boards in the Ducks 92-75 victory. Lacy led the Cougs with 19 points, but WSU could not keep up with the Ducks as the Cougs shot 45-percent for the game and were outrebounded by a 34-22 mark.

WSU found themselves down by 20 at halftime as the Ducks shot a scorching 71-percent in the first half and the Cougs were never within single digits for the remainder of the game.

The Cougs played their second Pac-12 game on New Year’s Eve and got their first Pac-12 victory of the season against the Oregon State Beavers. Motum led the Cougars with 26 points and eight boards as WSU won 81-76.

Lacy added 18 points for WSU, who led for most of the game, but it came down to key free throw shooting down the stretch to clinch the victory. OSU trailed 77-74 with 51 seconds remaining after the Beaver’s Ahmad Starks sank his fifth three pointer of the contest.

The Cougs improved their shooting after their loss to Oregon, by shooting 54-percent against the Beavers, including 50 percent from three-point range.

WSU couldn’t maintain its strong play as they visited Utah on Jan. 5. The Cougs lost 62-60 in overtime to the Utes, as Utah’s Josh Watkins made the game-winning jumper in overtime after junior Reggie Moore missed a go-ahead jumper with 12 seconds left.

Watkins led the Utes with 20 points as the Cougs couldn’t capitalize on a strong performance from Motum, who dropped 27 points and eight rebounds. WSU shot 43 percent from the field and 53 percent from outside the arc, but key turnovers and poor free throw shooting ultimately doomed WSU.

The Cougars shot 10-22 from the free throw line and had ten turnovers for the game. Nonetheless, the Cougs had a chance to push the game into a second overtime, but Lacy dribbled off of his leg and out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left.

The Cougs finished their winter break with a match-up against Colorado, but due to a poor shooting performance, WSU fell 71-60. The Cougs mustered a 36 percent shooting percentage for the game, compared to the Buffalo’s 46 percent shooting percentage.

Moore led the Cougs in scoring with 14 points as Aden added 12, but the game was not as close as the scoreboard indicated. Colorado was up 55-33 with 11:21 remaining in the game.

WSU used an 11-1 run to shrink the Colorado lead to 65-57 with 2:42 left in the game, but Colorado nailed their free throws to coast to victory.

The Cougs closed their break by dropping three out of four games to leave them with a 9-7 record on the season, and 1-3 in Pac-12 play.

WSU will travel to Seattle on Jan. 15 to face the University of Washington Huskies, tip-off is set for 7 p.m.