Cougs look for revenge at Stanford
at Stanford (13-7, 6-4) | Thr., Feb. 3 | 6 pm | Maples Pavilion
Live Stats | StatBroadcast
Watch | Pac-12 Network (JB Long and Eddie House)
Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)
OPENING FIVE
> Winners of three-straight the Cougs hit the road for round two against the Bay Area schools beginning with a rematch against Stanford. The Cardinal escaped with a 5-point win at Beasley in January, the last loss for the Cougs before the current winning streak.
> Andrej Jakimovski continues his blistering play on the wing going for 29 &1 9 combined against the Mountain Schools including his first Pac-12 double-double with 14 & 10 against Colorado. He is 3rd in the Pac-12 shooing 45.0% (27-of-60) from deep.
> The Cougs defense continues to be among the elite ranking 21st in defensive rating at 92.2 per 100. WSU has allowed opponents to shoot and effective FG% of just 45.0% (18th in the country).
> WSU became the first Pac-12 team since Utah in 2014-15 to hold multiple conference opponents under 45 points in the same season (29 at ASU, 43 vs Colorado). The last time the Cougs achieved the feat was in 2005-06 when they held the Bay Area schools under 45 in the same weekend in Pullman.
> WSU's NET jumped to 37 after last week, tying for the all-time high set earlier this season in December.
GAME INFORMATION - at STANFORD
The Cougs hit the road for the first time in a month as the team heads to the Bay Area for part two of their season series with Stanford and Cal. First up the Cougs look for revenge against the Cardinal after dropping a tough one at home to Stanford Jan. 13, 62-57. Playing shorthanded the Cougs built a double-digit lead only to let it slip away before a furious late rally fell just short in the end. In the loss freshman Mouhamed Gueye was at his best pulling down his first career Pac-12 double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Stanford recently defeated USC for the second time on the year before getting beat by UCLA to finish the weekend. The Cardinal responded by beating Cal Tuesday night.
NEXT UP
The Cougs look for their second-straight season sweep of Cal Saturday in Berkeley after defeating the Bears three weeks ago, 65-57, in Pullman. The game was a close, gritty win over the Cougs 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.
LAST TIME OUT - vs COLORADO
WSU 70 - COLO 43 | Jan. 30, 2022 | PULLMAN, WASH.
A 22-3 run to start the second half turned the game from a close one into a runaway win for the Cougs as WSU swept the season series with the Utes for the first time in program history. Early on it was Andrej Jakimovski doing the heavy lifting to build the early lead while in the second half it was all Tyrell Roberts as the junior scored 11 of his 15 second half points in the first seven minutes of the second half as the lead swelled to 20. The 17-point win marked the largest margin of victory for the Cougs all-time against Utah.
BENNETT BALL BACK ON THE PALOUSE
Harkening back to the era of the Bennetts the Cougs have put their stock on their defense. In total, the Cougs have allowed just 62.3 points per game and are 22nd in the country in defensive rating at 92.2 per 100 possessions. (DI average of 102.5)
WSU enters the week ranked 23rd in the country in defensive FG% allowing teams to shoot just 39.3% with an effective FG% of just 45.0% (19th in the DI).
The Cougs rank 14th in 2-ptFG% allowing teams to shoot just 44.5%.
WSU became the first Pac-12 team since Utah in 2014-15 to hold multiple conference opponents under 45 points in the same season (29 at ASU, 43 vs Colorado). The last time the Cougs achieved the feat was in 2005-06 when they held the Bay Area schools under 45 in the same weekend in Pullman.
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