Even though the WSU men’s basketball team is on its longest losing streak in 26 years, and only four of its 16-consecutive losses have been by single-digit margins, WSU will catch a bit of a break by facing Colorado Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

The Cougars (9-21, 1-17 Pac-12) will face the Buffaloes (21-10, 10-8) for the third time this season, and though Colorado swept WSU in the regular season, the games were tight until the final whistle.

When the two teams squared off Jan. 23 in Pullman, the Cougs shot below 60 percent from the free throw line (averaging 71.3 percent for the season), which aided the Buffs to the 75-70 victory. Then, on Feb. 11 in Boulder, WSU – playing without junior guard Charles Callison – led CU near the end of the first overtime period, but a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by redshirt sophomore guard George King tied the score and added another frame, which Colorado dominated for an 88-81 win.

Now, with the team at full strength and the season on the line in a loser-out game, Head Coach Ernie Kent’s veteran but inexperienced team will have to put together a full 40-minute performance to top a seemingly-NCAA Tournament bound Colorado squad and earn a date with No. 18 Arizona – the No. 4 seed in the tournament – Thursday in the quarterfinals.

The Buffs are led by a veteran presence in the frontcourt in the form of senior forward Josh Scott. The projected second round NBA draft pick is averaging 16.5 points and 8.7 boards per game this season, and he didn’t play against WSU in Boulder because of an ankle injury.

In order for WSU to stay competitive Wednesday, junior forward Josh Hawkinson has to slow down Scott defensively, while pacing the Cougars on the offensive end. The Cougar big man is still leading the conference with 20 double-doubles, but heading into WSU’s regular season finale against Washington – in which he had a monstrous 23 points and 17 rebounds – Hawkinson averaged just 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds and had just two double-doubles in the previous five games to drop his season averages to 15.6 and 11.

While Hawkinson has been trending down, junior guard Que Johnson has picked up a lot of the slack on the offensive end. In the last seven games of the regular season, Johnson averaged 16.4 points, including a career-high 25 at Colorado, to bring his season average up to 11.3 ppg. Also, in the Cougars’ last four games, he set and then twice tied his season-high of four 3-pointers.

Tipoff between the Buffs and Cougs is set for 2:40 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks. The quarterfinal against Arizona will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. All Pac-12 Tournament games will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Reporting by Dustin Brennan