Cougar basketball faces No. 9 Gonzaga in Beasley Coliseum as the Cougs look to rally with the home crowd.
The Cougs enter the matchup against one of the West Coast Conference’s powerhouse programs. WSU holds the all-time record 98-54. The Zags have controlled the rivalry in recent years with a 15-3 record since 1998 and have won four of the last five games in Pullman.
The Zags are coming off a win at home against Santa Clara. Gonzaga will look to capitalize on their explosive offense and extend their win streak to 11. Gonzaga’s biggest win of the season came against No. 18 Alabama on Nov. 25 and its only loss was a 40-point blowout to No. 4 Michigan. The Zags sit right under the top spot in the WCC at 5-0 in conference play. A win against WSU ties them with Saint Mary’s in the standings.
WSU is coming off an 88-82 loss to the Saint Mary’s Gaels. With a less-than-ideal start for the Cougs at 8-10, they sit at No. 4 in the WCC and a win against the Zags will keep them there. WSU head coach David Riley recognized the importance of this matchup.
“There was a moral victory today in this and I understand that coaches don’t like to talk about those anymore, but you got a tough one coming up on Thursday against the neighbor next door to you,” Riley said. ”I mean, this is a hell of a league. It is a blessing to be able to play in this conference. Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way when you look up and you have got to play Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga back-to-back.”
True freshman Ace Glass is a two-time WCC Freshman of the Week after leading the Cougars in scoring to close out non-conference play. He broke the WSU freshman single-game scoring record with 40 points vs. Arizona State at the Maui Invitational. He leads WSU, averaging 15.9 points, ranking No. 6 in the WCC and No. 14 nationally for a freshman.
Gonzaga forward Graham Ike is No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the WCC with 10 double-doubles this season. Ike also leads the nation among active NCAA Division I scorers with 2,261 points in his collegiate career.
Washington State features a balanced offensive attack, with five Cougars averaging nine or more points per game. Five different Cougs have recorded at least one 20-point game this season. The Cougars are shooting 46.2% from the field and are 7–2 when shooting over 45%. When held below that mark, Washington State is just 1–8.
This will be the biggest challenge for the Cougs this season. Tip off is at 7:00 p.m on Thursday in Beasley Coliseum.
