The Cougs will try to break out of slump against familiar foe
After two mesmerizing defeats last week, the Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team is gearing up to right the ship, and doing so will not come so easily.
The Cougs have lost 6 of their last 8, and while their losses to Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are more than par-for-the course, the two second half blow-outs and hideous losses to University of the Pacific were alarming. Not to mention narrowly escaping against a 4-20 San Diego Squad. Road bumps were expected when David Riley was tasked with replacing 13 players on a 15 player roster, but a sweep by the hands of Pacific was not on anyone’s bingo card; especially after Wazzu’s first 16 games.
Their first challenge of the week will come against old friend Oregon State, taking place in Corvallis Thursday night. The Beavs are 16-7 overall, and 6-4 in WCC play with all four of those losses coming while on the road, against teams in the top half of the league. Led by Junior forward Micheal Rataj, OSU has been nails at Gil Coliseum, with their only loss being at the hands of the ranked Ducks. Rataj is shooting over 50% from the floor and boasts three 25+ point games. WSU’s defensive weakness so far this season has been guards, but Rataj will certainly present problems.
To put it flatly, Oregon State has accomplished everything the Cougs were looking forward to after their 13-3 start: Avoided the Quad 4 loss, knocked off Gonzaga, and remained only 1.5 games back of second place in what is likely a two-bid league. However, history is on the Cougs’ side: Washington State has won 7 of the last 8 games against the Beavs, and the last two contests in Corvo. To repeat the success of recent years, the Cougs will need to return to their pre-January form. This will be the seventh Quad 1 opportunity for WSU, and ESPN’s analytics gives them only a 27.9% chance to win.
Following Thursday’s contest, the Cougs will return to the Palouse to face off against the 9-14 Pepperdine Waves. Whatever momentum that was felt in Beasley against Saint Mary’s two weekend’s ago will almost certainly be lost this upcoming Saturday. That being said, the Cougs are 8-2 at home, and the Waves are 2-7 on the road. This game should have felt like a sleepy go-through-the motions afternoon blow out… but absolutely nothing should be taken as a given now. ESPN gives the Cougs an 88.8% chance to win the game, and for WCC tournament seeding, they SORELY need it.
Both games will be on ESPN+, set your alarm for 8pm on Thursday and 3pm on Saturday to cheer on the Cougs!