Run it back with the Utes
vs Utah (8-12, 1-9) | Wed., Jan. 26 | 7 pm | Beasley Coliseum
Live Stats | StatBroadcast
Watch | Pac-12 Network (Greg Heister & Dan Dickau)
Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)
OPENING FIVE
> The Cougs get back on the court after a pause due to Covid-19 Protocol that postponed WSU's trip to the Oregon schools. The Cougs have played shorthanded the last few games due to protocols, but came out with a gritty win over Cal last time out.
> Mouhamed Gueye was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time on the year after an impressive week against the Bay Area schools. He went for a career high double-double against Stanford (16&11) before following up with 9&8 against Cal.
> Andrej Jakimovski has shown off his shooting prowess having scored in double-figures in four of the last six games including a season-high 16 points against Cal. He enters the week 2nd in three-point% in the Pac-12 having hit 45.5% (20-of-44) his shots from deep on the year.
> The Cougs defense continues to be among the elite ranking 38th in defensive rating at 94.3 per 100. WSU has allowed opponents to shoot and effective FG% of just 45.6% (29th in the country).
> WSU's NET fell to 62 after last week. The Cougs posted an all-time high of 37 earlier in December.
GAME INFORMATION - vs UTAH
The Cougs are back in action after a week long Covid-19 pause to take on the Utes for the second time on the year. The two teams met three weeks prior in Salt Lake City with the Cougs prevailing, 77-61, for just their second win all-time on the road at Utah. In addition, the win snapped a 13-game skid against the Utes for the Cougs. Five Cougs reached double-figures in scoring lead by Tyrell Roberts who scored a game-high 17 points including hitting a career best 5 three pointers. Defensively the Cougs allowed just 41 points from the floor keeping the Utes off the offensive glass allowing just six second-chance points.
NEXT UP
The Cougs look for some revenge against Colorado as the two teams meet once again, Sunday on FS1 in Pullman. 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.
LAST TIME OUT - vs CAL
WSU 65 - WSU 57 | Jan. 15, 2022 | PULLMAN, WASH.
The Cougs came up with a gritty win over the Bears despite playing shorthanded. Trailing at the break for just the second time on the year, the Cougs came back to defeat Cal, holding off a late charge and hitting their free throws to take the win. Andrej Jakimovski led the way with a season-high 16 points hitting 4-of-7 from deep while Michael Flowers went 8-for-9 from the line and hit the dagger three to put the game away late for WSU.
GUEYE NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK, LAST TIME THE COUGS HIT THE COURT
For the second time on the year Washington State Men's Basketball freshman Mouhamed Gueye took home Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 16. Gueye previously earned his first award for the week of Nov. 21. He becomes the first Coug to win multiple Freshman of the Week awards since the creation of the honor in 2019-20.
Coming into his own as the season progresses into the grind of conference play, Gueye showed off the skills that made him one of the top recruits in the country prior to joining the Cougs a year early out of high school. Opening up the week, Gueye was the best player on the floor when the Cougs took on the Cardinal of Stanford as the first-year forward put together his first career double-double in Pac-12 action and his second double-double of the year. With the Cougs playing shorthanded, Gueye led the way as he finished the game with a career high in points (16) and rebounds (11). It was the first time in his young career that he led the Cougs in scoring as Gueye was nearly unstoppable in the post finishing the day 8-for-13 from the field. On the defensive end, Gueye came up with a pair of blocks to close out his statline.
Two days later, Gueye was back at it, helping lead the Cougs to their third-straight victory over Cal, defeating the Bears, 65-57, at Beasley Coliseum. He nearly nabbed his second-consecutive double-double finishing just shy with nine points and eight rebounds. Once again, Gueye was the Cougs' best rebounder marking the eighth time on the year he pulled down the most boards for WSU. It was Gueye's rebounding that helped seal the win for the Cougs as he grabbed six of his eight in the final seven minutes of the game including three critical offensive rebounds that allowed WSU to pull away from the Bears late.
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