WSU men’s basketball (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12) hosts Arizona (12-3, 3-1 Pac-12) on Saturday. The Cougs had their best win of last season around this time a year ago when they beat then-No. 5 Arizona by a score of 74–61. It was one of the greatest wins in program history and put the Cougs on the map after an unsuccessful early schedule.
This year, Arizona is a different team. That does not mean they are worse. Averaging 92.75 points per game in conference play, the Wildcats are sitting at No. 8 in the country.
Senior guard Caleb Love transferred from North Carolina and is now leading Arizona in scoring at 17.7 points per game. He is also averaging a career-high in steals with 1.3.
While last year’s leading scorer Ąžuolas Tubelis is gone, his frontcourt partner Oumar Ballo has continued to produce from the center spot. His minutes are down, but he is still scoring 12.8 points and grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Kylan Boswell has seen increased usage as well and has become a focal point of the team. The sharpshooter is scoring 11.1 points per game while shooting 43% from outside, and he is leading the team in both assists and steals with 4.3 and 1.7 respectively.
With players like that it is no shock that the Wildcats are highly lauded nationally. Last year, the Cougs managed the upset by holding Arizona to 31% from the field and 16% from outside.
The long, switchable defensive identity that the Cougs had last year was the primary reason for that. Unfortunately, that identity has changed, and the Cougs have allowed their last three opponents to shoot a blistering 47.8% from long range.
However, they have traded that identity for a new one built around interior defense. While the numbers are not as high as they were in early December, the Cougs are still top 20 nationally in blocks per game and top 15 in block percentage.
The Cougs have a top-50 defense (50th, but that is still top-50) in the country in terms of opponent points per game, which against most teams would be okay. Arizona, on the other hand, has a top-50 offense in terms of points per game (1st, which is also still top-50). They are scoring 92 points per game and allowing 70, while WSU is scoring 75 and allowing 66.
It is not going to be an easy game for the Cougs. By all accounts, it should be a blowout. No stat favors the Cougs.
However, that was also the case last year. Sports are funny like that. If there was ever an environment that could favor the Cougs, it would be Pullman on a day where the high is projected to be 7° and the low is projected to be -9°.
Tip-off is 3 p.m. Saturday in Beasley Coliseum and the game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
