It’s an emotional week for two seniors on the WSU men’s basketball team.

As the Cougars (9-16, 1-12 in Pac-12) return home this week to play their final home stand of the season against the Bay Area schools of the Pac-12, it’s also the last time seniors Junior Longrus and Brett Boese will play in front of the Cougar fan base at Beasley Coliseum.

“I’ve definitely come to appreciate how special of a place Wazzu is,” Longrus said. “I wish we could’ve won more and it’s exciting to see the times when we showed that kind of potential and Beasley filled up, the fans were excited, and to see (where) the direction the program will get to, it will be even more of a special place.”

WSU will begin its final home stand of the 2016 season with a matchup against the Stanford Cardinal Thursday at 7 p.m. This is the first time the Cougars will play the Cardinal (12-11, 5-7 in Pac-12) this season.

Stanford has three players averaging in double figures in scoring this season. After losing three starters from last year’s team, the Cardinal have relied heavily on senior forward Rosco Allen.

The Hungary native is averaging 19.7 points in the Stanford’s last six games. Allen ranks sixth in scoring in the Pac-12 during conference games and No.10 overall.

The Cardinal are coming off a 76-72 victory over No.11 Oregon and currently sit at No.10 in the Pac-12 standings.

For WSU, the team is still searching to break its current losing streak that stands at 11. There were a few positive signs during the recent road trip against the Midwest schools of the conference.

One of those signs included the evolution of redshirt freshman guard Que Johnson.

The Michigan native showed a plethora of aggression in the Colorado game by taking 22 shots and scoring a career high of 25 points. He also tallied 13 points at Utah over the weekend.

“Coach (Ernie) Kent definitely wants me to look for my shot more,” Johnson said. “I just take the opportunities (presented to me)”

Johnson added if the Cougars are to end this losing streak at home, the team needs to be more mentally tough.

This week also involves Longrus and Boese passing down a torch in terms of leadership to players like Johnson, junior forward Josh Hawkinson and junior guard Ike Iroegbu who will be the senior leaders next season.

“The biggest thing for us we need that vocal leadership,” Boese said. “I think Josh (Hawkinson) is a really good leader by example, but Josh needs to learn to be more of a vocal leader and same with Ike, and those guys will learn more as time comes, but I think the biggest thing for Junior and I is we want to help guys get out their shell a little more.”

Tipoff between WSU and Stanford is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Beasley Coliseum. Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the game.