After suffering a nine point loss to No.12/13 Gonzaga earlier in the week, the Washington State men’s basketball team will now shift its attention towards the next opponent on the schedule, the Portland State Vikings.

The Cougars (4-1) will host the Vikings (3-3) this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum. This game marks as sixth straight home game for the Cougars this season.

Here are three key areas to focus on for Sunday’s game against Portland State:

Bench production

WSU men’s basketball Head Coach Ernie Kent has preached highly this season about the plethora of depth his team has. The Cougars entered Wednesday night’s game against Gonzaga averaging around 34 points points a game from their bench. In the loss to the Bulldogs, the WSU bench managed to combine for two points on one of seven shooting from the field.

“Our bench played 72 minutes, and got one basket and we’ve spent so much time developing this bench,” Kent said after the loss to Gonzaga. “Yet that bench played in games that its never played before in this big time atmosphere against that big time team, so they need some adjustments as well.”

On Sunday expect the WSU bench to become more of a factor in the game against Portland State.

The evolution of Que Johnson

When WSU redshirt junior guard Que Johnson came to Pullman, many fans expected him to make an immediate impact for the Cougars. Johnson was labeled as a four-star recruit by rivals.com when he played at Westwind Prep Academy and averaged 20.8 points.

In his first two seasons with the Cougars, Johnson averaged a combined 7.8 points a game. Currently a redshirt junior, it seems Johnson has stepped up his game this season. After five games, the Michigan native is averaging 11.8 points.

He is also coming off his best performance of the season so far, scoring 18 points against Gonzaga.

“I was hitting shots in the first half, and Ike and Charles did a good job of finding me on the curls, finding me when I flare,” Johnson said after the loss to Gonzaga.

Since Kent was hired as the Cougars Head Coach in 2014, he has labeled Johnson as having the potential to become a big time scorer for WSU.

“I just think Que, as well as several players on this basketball team have tremendous growth potential, and he has not reached his growth potential yet. That’s why we continue to push, strive, and pride him to do better because I think he can do more,” Kent said. “He is playing a lot better with a lot more energy than he played last year, and for him that might ‘wow I’m playing so much harder,’ but for me as coach he has so much in him that I’m trying to get out of him.”

Protecting the rock

The Cougars had 13 turnovers in their last game, which the Bulldogs took full advantage on by scoring 14 points off those turnovers. Most of those turnovers occurred in the first half, which allowed for the Bulldogs to jump out to steady lead at times during the game.

“They (the turnovers) were really frustrating, but that’s something we got to work on,” WSU junior guard Ike Iroegbu said after the loss to Gonzaga. “When we play a team like Gonzaga, you can’t have turnovers like that because like you saw, it’ll cost us when you play against a great team like Gonzaga.”

It will also cost the Cougars a game against the Vikings if they do not take care of the ball on Sunday.

Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. Sunday in Beasley Coliseum. For the fans who are unable to make it out to the arena, the game will be broadcasted on Pac-12 Networks.