vs #11/11 Baylor (7-2)| Sunday, Dec. 18 | 9 pm CT | 7 pm PT | American Airlines Center (Dallas)
Live Stats | StatBroadcast
Watch | ESPN2 (Rich Hollenberg and Fran Fraschilla)
Listen | WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow &Craig Ehlo)

OPENING FIVE
1. The Cougars continue their road swing to conclude nonconference play, traveling to Dallas to face No. 11 Baylor, Sunday, Dec. 18 at American Airlines Center in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) with coverage on ESPN2. The matchup will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Cougs and Bears, with WSU winning the last meeting, Dec. 23, 2010 at the Hawaii Diamond Head Classic, 77-71.
2. Last time out, WSU traveled to Las Vegas, falling to UNLV 70-74 in the Vegas Clash at MGM Grand Garden Arena in a double-header event alongside Indiana and Arizona. TJ Bamba led the Cougs with a 20-point performance as WSU shot 54.2% (26-of-48) from the floor, including 56.5% from beyond the arc, but a season-high 22 turnovers doomed the Cougs against the unbeaten Runnin' Rebels.
3. TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game (seventh in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 50.5% from the floor. Bamba has scored in double figures for eight-straight games, including a career-high 24 points against Boise State, Nov. 12 - the first 20-point game of his career - and back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career with 22 points against Northern Kentucky and 20 points vs UNLV.
4. As a team, WSU averages 9.3 made 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 (T-35th in the country). Individually, Jabe Mullins leads WSU with a 56.7% (17-of-30) clip from beyond the arc, followed by TJ Bamba with a .488 clip (20-of-41). Against Detroit Mercy (Nov. 25), the Cougars set a school record with 19 made 3s.
5. Mouhamed Gueye is slowing turning into a double-double machine. The sophomore had back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career, including a 20 points, 10-rebounds performance against Utah in the Pac-12 home opener. This season, Gueye has scored in double figures six times and led WSU in rebounding seven times.

COUGARS VS BEARS
Washington State continues a five-game road swing to conclude nonconference play, traveling to Dallas to face No. 11 Baylor in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at American Airlines Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT) with coverage on ESPN2. It will mark the first meeting between WSU and Baylor since Dec. 23, 2010, when the sides met at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, where the Cougs knocked off No. 15 Baylor in a 77-71 victory to advance to the tournament title game. Then-junior Klay Thompson led Wazzu with 20 points to lead five double-figure Coug scorers. All four matchups between WSU and Baylor have been decided by single digits, with an average margin of victory of 4.0 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT VS UNLV
WSU 70 - UNLV 74 | DEC. 10, 2022 | LAS VEGAS, NEV.
Washington State was down 12 points with 7:08 to play but pulled within three points twice inside the final minute. UNLV answered by making 3 of 4 from the line. TJ Bamba hit a 3 and scored eight points for the Cougars down the stretch. Bamba finished with 20 points to lead Washington State, which shot 54% overall and 13 of 23 (56.5%) from long range but gave up 31 points off 21 turnovers. Justin Powell added 15 points and DJ Rodman had 14.

ABOUT THE PAC-12 COAST-TO-COAST CHALLENGE
The second annual Pac-12 US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge will feature a quadruple-header of marquee men's and women's programs on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. A pair of women's and men's contests featuring four separate Pac-12 programs and the Big 12's Baylor and Texas will comprise the second iteration of the Challenge to take place at American Airlines Center, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, NHL's Dallas Stars and site of the 2023 NCAA Women's Final Four.

NEXT UP
WSU concludes the nonconference schedule with the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Cougs open the 8-team tournament against George Washington, Thursday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m. PT (4 p.m. HT) on ESPN2. The Cougars will face either Hawaii or Pepperdine in the second round on Friday, Dec. 23 before wrapping the event Christmas Day with the final game of the tournament.

BAMBA'S BACK
TJ Bamba has emerged as Washington State's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game (seventh in the Pac-12), while shooting an efficient 50.5% from the floor to lead WSU. Bamba has scored in double figures for eight-consecutive games, including a career-high 24 points against Boise State, Nov. 12 - the first 20-point game of his career - and back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career with 22 points against Northern Kentucky and 20 points vs UNLV.
He is also shooting well from beyond the arc with 20 made 3-pointers this season on 48.8% shooting. Bamba led the Cougs with five rebounds against Prairie View A&M to go along with a team-high 16 points, marking the second time in Bamba's career he has led WSU in scoring and rebounding (March 3, 2022 against Oregon State).

GUEYE TAKING OVER
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, a preseason All-Pac-12 selection and All-Freshman honoree last season, tallied his second-straight double-double and third of the season last Wednesday versus Northern Kentucky. Against the Norse, Gueye finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. In the previous game against Utah, he scored 20 points with 11 rebounds for his first career 20-point, 10-rebound double-double and the first by a Coug since Efe Abogidi registered 21 and 14 against Washington, Feb. 23, 2022. Gueye also tallied a double-double against Texas State, leading the Cougars in scoring and rebounding in the season opener. This season, Gueye has scored in double figures six times, with 16 double-digit performances in his young career. He has led WSU in rebounding seven times this year.

BOMBS AWAY
The Cougars aren't afraid to pull the trigger from deep. As a team, WSU makes 9.3 3-point field goals per game, more than any team in the Pac-12 (T-35th in the country). Washington State, which attempts the second-most 3-pointers in the Conference (24.0), shoots at a 38.9% clip (84-of-216). Individually, Jabe Mullins leads WSU with a 56.7% (17-of-30) clip from beyond the arc, followed by TJ Bamba with a .488 clip (20-of-41). Junior transfer Justin Powell isn't far behind at 24-of-55 (43.6%). In the Nov. 25th game against Detroit Mercy, the Cougars set a school record with 19 made from beyond the arc. Jabe Mullins led WSU with six made 3-pointers as the Cougs finished 19-of 29 from downtown. The splash show marked the fourth time under Kyle Smith the Cougs have made 15+ from beyond the arc.

POWELL'S PERFECT PASSING
Junior transfer Justin Powell has been taking care of the rock all season, as the Conference's leader with a 3.80 assist-to-turnover ratio. Powell is averaging 4.2 assists per game, seventh in the Pac-12. The Kentucky native dished out a career-high 12 assists in his WSU debut against Texas State, Nov. 7, the most assists by a Coug in a season opener since assists became an official stat in the 1985-86 season and the most by a WSU player in any game in 13 years, when Reggie Moore tallied 12 assists against Portland State, Dec. 19, 2009. It's also the first double-double with assists since Malachi Flynn dished out 11 assists to go with 11 points against Arizona, Jan. 31, 2018. Twice this season Powell has tallied seven assists without committing a turnover. When he went a perfect 7.0 against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, he was the first Coug with at least as many assists and no giveaways since Andrej Jakimovski tallied nine assists without a turnover against Cal, Feb. 18, 2021.

RODMAN RETURNING VETERAN
As the Cougars' veteran senior, Rodman entered WSU's starting lineup in the season opener against Texas State. Rodman scored 16 points, the most since scoring a career high 21 points against Northern Colorado, Dec. 18, 2021. He finished with a +14 plus-minus and 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Rodman followed up with a career-high 14 rebounds against Boise State to lead WSU on the boards, with 5 offensive rebounds. He leads the Cougars this season with eight charges drawn, more than double any teammate. On the offensive glass, Rodman has pulled in 15 offensive rebounds, most by any backcourt Coug, and is second on the team with 5.8 total rebounds per game.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
The Cougars will play two games in Texas this season, having faced Prairie View A&M, Nov. 15, and playing Baylor in Dallas, Dec. 18. In addition, WSU opened the season with a win at home over Texas State. It's the most games against Texas universities since the 2015-16 season, when the Cougs hosted Texas Southern, Texas State, and UTEP in Pullman. It's the first time since the 2014-15 season the Cougs played two games in Texas, opening the season at UTEP, Nov. 14, and at TCU, Nov. 17.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
Despite the Cougars lack of frontcourt size, they hold a +6.7 rebounding margin this season (third in the Conference). When WSU faced Northern Kentucky, Dec. 7, the Cougs held the Norse to four first-half rebounds and just 12 rebounds in the game. It marked the fewest rebounds by a Washington State opponent since Dec. 29, 1992 when Princeton pulled in seven rebounds. The last time a WSU opponent was held below 20 rebounds was when Idaho State gathered 16 boards in Kennewick, Wash., Dec. 29, 2012. The Cougars finished with a +29 rebounding margin against Northern Kentucky, the largest margin since Nov. 15, 2008 when WSU went +34 (53-19) on the glass against Mississippi Valley State and only the second time in the last 25 years. WSU followed with another dominate rebounding performance against UNLV, limiting the Runnin' Rebels to 20 total boards (five in the first half) and finished with a +13 advantage on the glass.

RETURN TO OAHU
WSU will travel to Honolulu to conclude its nonconference schedule over Christmas. The Cougars have previously competed in the Diamond Head Classic twice, and participated in the Rainbow Classic four times before that. In total, the Cougs hold a 9-9 record across six multi-team events in Honolulu, dating back to the 1973 Rainbow Classic. The Cougs have reached the championship game three times, most recently in 2010 against Butler, but have never won a Hawaiian MTE.

WINNING BIG
All four Cougar victories this season have come by at least 20+ points. Washington State's smallest margin of victory was against Northern Kentucky, a 21-point win, Dec. 7. All but two of the Cougars' games have been decided by double figures. The only single-digit games were the Conference home-opener against Utah, Dec. 4, when WSU fell to the Utes, 65-67, in overtime, and the last time out against UNLV, falling 70-74.

INJURY BUG BITES EARLY
The Cougs have been short-handed since the start of the season due to injury. Prior to the season starting, the Cougars announced they will be without junior Dishon Jackson or redshirt freshman Myles Rice. Both are out indefinitely due to medical issues. Rice announced publicly in October he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is undergoing treatment. Jackson did not disclose his medical issue and asked for privacy. WSU has also been without Jakimovski (foot) since preseason. Junior transfer Jabe Mullins, one of the hottest shooting guards in the country, has missed four games with a knee injury. In addition, Darling, Diongue, Rodman, and Rosario have each missed at least one game at different times due to illness or injury.

MULLINS MAGIC
Junior transfer Jabe Mullins wasted no time opening his scoring account at WSU. Mullins scored the opening basket for the Cougs in the season opener against Texas State and never looked back. He leads WSU with a 56.7% (17-of-30) 3-point field goal percentage. Against Eastern Washington, Nov. 21, Mullins made eight 3-point field goals - the most by a Coug since Noah Williams had eight vs Stanford on Feb. 20, 2021. It's also the most made 3s by a Pac-12 player this season and tied for the most by a high-major player in Division I. He followed the EWU game with six 3-point FGs against Detroit Mercy, as the Cougs set a school record with 19 made from beyond the arc.