Cougs head to Salt Lake City to face off against the Utes

Jan 7, 2022

OPENING FIVE
> WSU looks to get back on track after dropping its first game of the new year at Colorado Thursday night. The Cougs head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utes who have won the last 13 in the all-time series between the two teams. The Cougs have won just once in 19 games at Utah, in 1946.
> Efe Abogidi has hit his stride as of late going for double-digit scoring in three of the last four games including posting a double-double (16&10) Thursday at Colorado.
> Tyrell Roberts has refound his groove scoring a career and team season high 25 points Thursday at Colorado. Roberts has hit double-figures in each of his last two games on the court.
> The Cougs defense continues to be among the elite ranking 41st in defensive rating at 93.9 per 100. WSU has allowed opponents to shoot and effective FG% of just 45.5% (40th in the country).
> WSU's NET rating sits at 60, dropping from an all-time high of 37 earlier in December.

GAME INFORMATION - at UTAH
The Cougs continue their trip in the mountains with a tilt against Utah. The Utes enter the game 8-7 overall but just 1-4 in Pac-12 play after getting swept last week by the Oregon Schools on the road and falling to Washington Thursday. The Utes have been especially tough at home on the year at 6-2 having fallen to BYU in late November and again to Washington Thursday night.
The two teams played just once last season with the Utes taking the win in Pullman. The Cougs are looking to snap a 13-game losing streak to the Utes dating back to their last win in 2014, a 49-46 victory in Pullman. The Cougs have yet to win in Salt Lake City since the Utes joined the Pac-12 with their last win at Utah coming in 1946. WSU is just 1-18 all-time at Utah.

NEXT UP
The Cougs return home to host the Bay Area schools beginning with Stanford Thursday afternon at Beasley. Stanford has been on pause for the past week and will be scheduled to play three games during the week beginning Tuesday at USC before heading to the Pacific Northwest for the weekend. The Cougs one the last matchup against the Cardinal in Pullman last season, outlasting Stanford in triple overtime thanks to the epic performance of Noah Williams. The then sophomore came up with a career high 40 points (the 9th 40 point performance in program history). It was part of Williams record setting 72 point weekend against Cal and Stanford, the most points scored in a single weekend in program history.

LAST TIME OUT - at COLORADO
COLO 83 - WSU 78 | Jan. 6, 2022 | Boulder, Colo.
Despite a tough fight on the road the Cougs came up short in their bid to win against Colorado, falling for the 11th consecutive time on the road in Boulder. Ty Roberts scored a team season high and a career high 25 points in the loss while Efe Abogidi came up with his first double-double of the season going for 16 & 10 in the loss. Colorado was able to hold off a late push by the Cougs who clawed within three in the final minute only to come up just short.

ABOGIDI RISING
Forced to adjust to a knee injury suffered over the summer while training with Team Nigeria, sophomore Efe Abogidi has begun to find his rhythm on the floor, looking like the explosive problem on both ends of the floor Coug fans grew to love last season.
Abogidi has scored in double-figures in three of the last four games for the Cougs while coming off the bench. Most recently, Abogidi recorded his first double-double of the year to start 2022 going for 16 points and 10 rebounds at Colorado. The 16 points were a high in Pac-12 play for the young forward while the double-double was his 6th career double-double. Offensively, he has a True Shooting% of 68.7, a team best while defensively Abogidi leads the way with a defensive rating of 90.0 (1.5 points better than a season ago).

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