A familiar foe; Cougars will face Ernie Kent’s former team, the Oregon Ducks

It has been a long time since Cougar fans have seen a Cougar basketball team that was 2-1 in the conference, and Head Coach Ernie Kent’s Cougars compiled that record on the road. It has been five years since the Cougars have won back-to-back road games in the Pac-12. The momentum will be on their side as they take on Oregon in their Pac-12 home opener.

Washington State (8-7, 2-1) will take on the Oregon Ducks (12-4, 2-1) tonight at Beasley Coliseum. When referring to opening their season 2-1, senior guard DaVonte Lacy said it was nice to take two of three, but the team believes they can accomplish more.

“Taking two out of three on the road is pretty good for our confidence, but we always look for improvement,” Lacy said. “We went home thinking we should’ve went 3-0- we kind of let Stanford off the hook and we gave them good opportunities and they capitalized and they won it. We have confidence to know we can play anywhere- especially at home our confidence is even greater because this is our home, this is what we want to protect and we’re gonna have our fans behind us.”

The Cougars are above .500 for the first time this season and seem to have found a rhythm after winning four of their last five games. Kent believes his team is close to finding their identity.

“I think we’re getting closer to it,” Kent said. “If we can consistently defend people the way we want to defend them, get stops, get out and run, obviously for us it’s the transition game, speed game, but you have to be able to defend and do it on a consistent basis and if we can do that game in, game out, then I would say yes, we have found that identity.”

WSU will have to battle against a tough Oregon squad that features one of the best scorers in the Pac-12 in senior guard Joseph Young. Young is averaging 19.4 points per game for the Ducks. Kent said there might not be a player as important to their team as Young is to Oregon.

“Young makes Oregon go and has done a terrific job at doing that,” Kent said. “He can score, he knows how to score, not only is he quick off the dribble, he can shoot threes, beat you in the lane, he’s great at finishing at the basket and what is really underrated about him is his ability to get up in the lane and get steals so he can score. He scores in a number of different ways so it makes it difficult to defend.”

Oregon is led on the defensive end by freshman forward Jordan Bell. Bell is averaging 6.8 rebounds a game, but also is averaging an astounding 3.7 blocks a game, good for third in the nation. The Cougars faced off against the number one player in the nation in Washington’s Robert Upshaw last weekend. WSU fared well playing small and using their speed. However, Upshaw and Bell are different players as Upshaw uses his size and strength, while Bell relies on his athleticism.

Lacy has led WSU this season; however the emergence of sophomore guard Ike Iroegbu has been key to their recent success. Over the course of the last three Cougar victories, Iroegbu has averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and dished out an average of 4.3 assists in 27 minutes per game. Iroegbu said he is pleased with his recent play.

“I feel like I’m playing real confident. Coach Kent is keeping me confident and telling me if I see a play to make just go make a basketball play,” Iroegbu said. “That’s what I gotta do when I’m on the court and I’m feeling comfortable doing that.”

Iroegbu isn’t the only one who believes he is playing with a high level of confidence. Kent said the biggest key to continue his success is to remain confident and be mentally prepared.

“The biggest thing with Ike is really confidence is starting to come,” Kent said. “Number two, he’s understanding how we need for him to play in this system and he’s accepted that, when you get a player that has his confidence and understands exactly what you need out of him and is willing to do it, that’s when it starts to come and that’s what you’re seeing with Ike and we need him to play like he did against Washington every game.”

After Thursday’s game against Oregon, WSU will look to Oregon State next. The Beavers are 11-4 on the season and are led by the son of former Seattle SuperSonics legend Gary Payton. Gary Payton II is averaging 12.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and three assists per game for the Beavers. He recorded a triple-double earlier this season, the first time that’s happened for OSU since his father.

You can catch the Cougars in action starting Thursday night at 8 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 network. WSU will then host the Beavers Saturday night at 6 p.m., also airing on the Pac-12 network.