Cougs to Clash With the Cardinal Saturday
WASHINGTON STATE (9-1, 2-1)
at Stanford (7-3, 3-1) | Sat., Jan. 9 | 2 p.m.
Live Stats | Statbroadcast
Watch | Pac-12 Network (Kevin Danna & Casey Jacobsen)
Listen | WSU IMG Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)
OPENING FIVE
> For the first time since 2010-11 the Cougs won their road opener with a 71-60 win at Cal Thursday to improve to 9-1 on the year, the best start since 2007-08 when the Cougs started 14-0.
> WSU looks to snap an eight-game losing streak against Stanford Saturday and will attempt to pick up its first road weekend sweep since knocking off the Arizona schools during the 2018-19 season (the first sweep since 2010-11 and first road sweep since 2008-09).
> Senior Isaac Bonton has refound his groove as he has posted back-to-back 20+ point efforts to begin Pac-12 play (25 vs Arizona, 22 at Cal) while shooting 17-of-34 (50%) from the floor.
> Efe Abogidi continues his rise to stardom after posting 12 points and 9 rebounds at Cal while hitting a career best 3-of-4 from deep. He is now 8-of-17 (47.1%) from behind the arc.
> WSU enters the game one of the top defensive units in the country ranking #1 in defensive FG% (.342) and #3 in defensive effective FG% (.390) as well as #21 in scoring defense (60.7).
Additionally the Cougs are #5 in the country in rebounding at 43.9 rpg the highest rebounding average since 1971-72 (45.3 rpg).
GAME INFORMATION - AT STANFORD
The Cougs head to Santa Cruz to take on a Stanford Cardinal team that has won eight-straight in the series including an 88-62 win at Stanford last season. The Cardinal were forced off campus due to county regulations preventing contact sports from being played, thus moving to the Warriors G-League facility in Santa Cruz. The Cardinal enter the game having won back-to-back games at Oregon State (81-71) and vs Washington (91-75)
Stanford is led by the Pac-12's leading scorer, Oscar da Silva who is averaging 19.1 ppg on 64.0% shooting. Additionally, Stanford's freshman Ziaire Williams is averaging 11.2 ppg and is coming off the Cardinal's first triple-double (12pts, 12rbds, 10asts) since Brook Lopez on Jan. 25, 2007.
LAST TIME OUT - AT CAL
WSU 71 - CAL 60 | Jan. 7, 2021 | Berkeley, Calif.
Isaac Bonton made 7 of 11 shots and finished with 22 points, five rebounds and six assists to help Washington State beat California 71-60 on Thursday night. Efe Abogidi added 12 points and nine rebounds and Noah Williams scored 11 points for the Cougars (9-1, 2-1 Pac-12). Abogidi made 3 of 4 from 3-point range and Bonton hit 2 of 4 from the arc.
BONTON CONTINUES STREAKING
The Cougs top scorer, Isaac Bonton continues to fill it up on the scoreboard as the senior has run his streak team-best double-digit scoring streak to 27-straight games dating back to Dec. 21, 2019 against Incarnate Word. He has 34 career double-digit scoring games.
On the year, Bonton is averaging 17.7 ppg, 4th among all Pac-12 scorers. He is also third on the team in rebounding at 5.3 rpg.
He has three times gone for 20+ points including 28 in the opener and 25 against Arizona and 22 at Cal. He has 8 career 20+ point scoring effort. He went consecutive games of 20+ pts vs Arizona and at Cal for just the second time in his career (three-straight last season).
On the year the senior leads the conference in getting to the line with 65 attempts (22nd in the country) and is first in makes at 44.
BENNETT BALL BACK ON THE PALOUSE
Harkening back to the era of the Bennetts the 2020-21 Cougs have put their stock on their defense, dominating the defensive end of the court en route to an 9-1 record. In total, the Cougs rank #21 in the country in scoring defense allowing just 60.7 points per game and #9 in the country in defensive rating at 85.69 per 100 possessions.
WSU enters the game ranked #1 in the country in defensive FG% allowing teams to shoot just 34.2% with an effective FG% of just 39.0% (#3 in the DI). WSU's defensive efficiency ranks #43 at 93.3 per 100, nearly eight points better than the DI average of 101.4 per 100.
The Cougs rank #2 in 2-ptFG% allowing teams to shoot just 38.9%, 11 points below the DI average of 49.7% and #18 in 3-ptFG% allowing teams to shoot just 26.2%)
WSU has kept opponents off the offensive glass grabbing 32.35 defensive rebounds per game ranking #4 (allowing opponents to grab just 25.5% of offensive rebound chances).
The Cougs are lead by Efe Abogidi with a 74.9 defensive rating per 100 possessions which leads the Pac-12, all P6, and is 11th in the country.
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