By Chris Garvin

3 23 2024

ISU GAME NOTES

https://cyclones.com/documents/2024/3/22/Gm36_vsNCAA2nd_3-23-24-WashingtonState.pdf

Who: No. 4 Iowa State (28-7, 13-5 Big 12) vs. No. 25 Washington State (25-9, 14-6 Pac-12)

Where: CHI Health Center (17,560) – Omaha, Neb.

When: Saturday, March 23, 2024 – 5:10 p.m.

Tipping Off: Fresh off an 82-65 victory over No. 15 seed South Dakota State, No. 2 seed Iowa State turns its attention to No. 7 seed Washington State in Saturday’s second round. In the first ever meeting with the Cougars, Iowa State is looking to make its seventh Sweet 16 in school history.

The No. 2 seeded Iowa State Cyclones led from the opening possession Thursday, as ISU beat No. 15 seed South Dakota State 82-65 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Five Cyclones scored in double figures, led by 19 points from Milan Momcilovic in his first NCAA Tournament game. It was the first time Iowa State has had five players score in double figures in an NCAA Tournament game since doing so against Nevada in 2017.

With Thursday night’s win, ISU is tied for the second-most wins in a single season in program history with 28.

A top 25 battle in the East Region’s Round of 32, the Cyclones will face a Washington State program that slogged out a win over the Drake Bulldogs on Thursday night, 66-61. Wazzu overcame an eight-point Bulldog second half lead, taking control at the 1:51 mark and holding on for the win in its first March Madness appearance since 2008.

Washington State is the third set of Cougars the Cyclones have played on the season (Houston and BYU), and will be the first Pac-12 team Iowa State has played since 2021 when ISU downed Oregon State at Hilton Coliseum, 60-50.

Storylines:

• With a victory on Saturday, No. 2 seed Iowa State would advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history and the second in three years under T.J. Otzelberger. The game would be played on Thursday at a time to be determined in Boston. No coach in school history has gone to the Sweet Sixteen more than once.
• In dominating fashion, No. 7 Iowa State blasted No. 1 Houston 69-41 last Saturday night to win the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. It was the fifth time in the last 10 to­­urnaments Iowa State has won the title, while picking up its sixth overall.
  • Iowa State held the Cougars to just 26.8 percent shooting from the field (15-56) to hand the Cougars their worst loss of the Kelvin Sampson era, as well as the largest margin of victory ever in a Big 12 Championship game.
  • The win also marked Iowa State’s fourth-ever win against a No. 1 team.
• ISU is 6-6 all-time in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • Overall, the Cyclones are 22-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
• Coach Otzelberger is the eighth coach at ISU to lead the team to the NCAA Tournament and just the second to do so in each of his first three seasons (joining Tim Floyd).
• Keshon Gilbert has been Iowa State’s best player in the back half of the season, as he’s become the team’s leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game.
  • Gilbert recorded a triple-double against New Hampshire earlier this season, going for 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • His triple-double – the eighth in school history – puts him with Lipsey, Haliburton, Monté Morris, Royce White, Jamaal Tinsley, Curtis Stinson and Marc Urquhart as members of the illustrious club.
  • Gilbert is first in the Big 12 in free throws attempted (193) and second in FT made (140).
    • He is second on the team in assists (150) and steals (69).
  • Gilbert has two Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to his name this season.
  • He’s recorded a team-best eight 20-plus point outings.
• AP Honorable Mention All-American Tamin Lipsey is the heartbeat of the team, as the Ames native averages 12.4 points per game to go along with team-highs in assists (168) and steals (93).
  • Lipsey leads all Big 12 players in steals and steals per game.
    • He is fourth, nationally, in those categories.
  • Lipsey set the school record for steals against PVAMU, picking the Panthers’ pockets eight times.
    • The previous record, seven, was held by Fred Hoiberg and Justus Thigpen.
    • He has recorded a steal in all but two games in his career.
  • Against DePaul, Lipsey recorded the seventh triple-double in school history, going for 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
    • Lipsey became the first Cyclone since Tyrese Haliburton in 2020 to record a triple-double.
• Cyclone freshman Milan Momcilovic has been a smooth scorer off the wing for ISU, averaging 11.2 points per contest.
  • He is one of five Cyclones to score at least 20 in a game this season.
  • Momcilovic is averaging the most points per game by an ISU true freshman since Lindell Wigginton’s 16.7 in 2017-18.
    • He is the second highest-scoring true freshman in the Big 12, behind Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter.
• Sixth man Curtis Jones has been stellar off the bench for the Cyclones, starting the year as a defensive stopper and eventually coming into his own on offense where he now averages 10.5 points per game.
  • Jones is the only ISU player since 2012 to record double-figure scoring outputs in 13-straight games off the bench which he did earlier this season.
    • He’s been in double figures off the bench in 21-of-35 games for the Cyclones this season.
  • He had seven steals at TCU earlier this season in his lone start, tying him for the second-most steals in a single game in Iowa State history.
    • It’s the first time ever that two Cyclones recorded games with seven-plus steals in a single season.
• Robert Jones leads the team in offensive rebounds (80) and blocks (34).
• Tre King leads the team in rebounds, as the senior out of Lexington, Ky., averages 5.3 per game and has a total of 185 boards.
• Hason Ward, C. Jones, Jackson Paveletzke, Demarion Watson and Omaha Biliew make up the bench unit for the Cyclones.
• Iowa State forces the second-most turnovers per game (17.46) in the country – tops in the Big 12.
  • The Cyclones average 10.5 steals per game, also tops in the Big 12 and second in the country.
• As a head coach, Otz is 168-97 overall and has led the Cyclones to a 69-34 record over the last three seasons.

From the Notes:

• A trio of Cyclones earned honors from the Big 12. Lipsey was an All-Big 12 First Team selection, while Gilbert was named to the second team. Lipsey was a unanimous selection to the All-Defensive Team, while Gilbert was named to the All-Newcomer Team. Momcilovic was named to the All-Freshman Team.
  • Lipsey was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American and also earned a spot on the NABC All-District 8 Team.
• Iowa State has won 18-straight games at Hilton Coliseum, the fifth longest active home winning streak in the country.
  • ISU, McNeese and Samford are the only undefeated teams in the country at home with at least 18 wins.
• Iowa State has won six Big 12 Tournaments now in the last 11 seasons.
• Iowa State ranks second in the nation in turnover percentage at 25.6 percent. ISU has been in the top six in the country in each of Otzelberger’s seasons, ranking sixth in 2022 (24.6%) and second in 2023 (25%).
• Iowa State is one of four schools in the country, and the only Power Six school, to force 25 or more turnovers in multiple games against NCAA Division I opponents this season.
• Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert each have triple-doubles to their names this season – making ISU the only team in the country with multiple players boasting a triple-double.
  • There are now eight in school history.
• Only four players in the country are averaging at least 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game this season. Two of them reside in the Cyclone backcourt in Tamin Lipsey and Keshon Gilbert, with ISU being the only school in the nation with multiple players hitting those marks.
• Lipsey had a school-record steal streak of 34-straight games snapped this season. It was the second longest streak in the country. He has a steal in 65 of the 67 games he has played.
• The Cyclones are 30-1 under T.J. Otzelberger when four or more players score in double figures.
• The six highest-scoring Cyclone outputs under Otzelberger have all come this season, including a pair of 100-point performances. Nine of the 10 highest under Otz have also come this season.
• Otzelberger was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year. There are 10 semifinalists for the award. Last year Otzelberger made it on to the late season watch list of 15.
• The Cyclones have scored 90 or more points six times this season. It is the most times hitting that mark in a season since the 2016-17 team did so eight times.
• As of Saturday, the Cyclones are ranked No. 6 in the NET. The Cyclones slot in at No. 6 in the KenPom rankings and are No. 6 in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index.

Switching Sides:

• Wazzu guard Myles Rice was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year this season, becoming the first WSU player to earn the award.
  • He set the freshman single-game scoring, single-season scoring, steals, assists and field goals record.
• Washington State big man Isaac Jones recorded the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament double-double on Thursday, as he went for 20 and 11 in the win over Drake.
• The team saw three players earn All-Pac-12 nods for the first time since 1980 as both Jones and Rice were on the All-Conference First Team while Jaylen Wells was an honorable mention.
• The Cougars won 14 conference games this season, tying the school record for the most in a single season. Wazzu also earned 14 conference wins in both 1979—80 and 1982-83.
• Washington State slots in at No. 37 in KenPom, No. 42 in ESPN’s BPI and No. 44 in the NET.
• Former Cyclone Aljaz Kunc began his career at Washington State before transferring to Iowa State.
• According to KenPom, Washington State is the second-tallest team in college basketball and ranks top 30 nationally in blocked shots.
• Washington State head coach Kyle Smith is in his fifth season at the helm of the Cougar basketball program. The Cougs are 94-70 during his tenure and this is the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance uncer him.
  • Smith is 258-192 in his career, as he had previous head coaching tenures at both San Francisco and Columbia.
  • Smith was named the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year after leading the Cougars to their best season of the Pac-12 Era.

COURTESY GONZAGA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

WSU GAME NOTES

https://wsucougars.com/documents/2024/3/22/MBB_240323_WSUvsISU.pdf

ISU GAME NOTES

https://wsucougars.com/documents/2024/3/22/MBB_240323_OPP_ISU_Notes.pdf

7 WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (25-9, 14-6) vs  #2 IOWA STATE CYCLONES (28-7, 13-5)
Saturday, March 23, 2024
3:10 p.m. PT // 5:10 p.m. CT
Omaha, Neb. // CHI Health Center
Built: 2003 // Capacity: 17,630
Radio Coverage // Cougar Network
KXLY 920AM // KHTR 104.3FM
KIRO 710AM // KPAM 860AM
Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo
Television Coverage
TNT // CBS Sports App
Tom McCarthy // Deb Antonelli
Avery Johnson // AJ Ross

OPENING FIVE
1. No. 7 WSU advances to the NCAA Second Round to face No. 2 Iowa State, Saturday, March 23 at 3:10 p.m. PT (5:10 p.m. CT) at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb., and live on TNT and WestwoodOne Radio
2. Myles Rice was named the 2024 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year,  becoming the first Coug in school history to win the award, after setting the WSU freshman school record in single-game scoring, single-season scoring, steals, assists, and field goals, while garnering All-Pac-12 honors and Pac-12 All-Freshman
3. Isaac Jones recorded the first double-double in WSU’s NCAA Tournament history with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Jones’ 10th double-double of the year and fourth-straight game leading the Cougars in scoring
4. The John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Kyle Smith has guided the Cougs to their best season of the Pac-12 era, surpassing 250 career wins, and led WSU to a 23-8 regular season finish. Smith guided the Cougs to 14 Conference wins, matching the WSU all-time League wins record set in 1980 and 1983. Smith is the only coach in Cougar history to earn two top-10 wins in the same season, beating Arizona twice
5. Three Cougars earned All-Pac-12 nods for the first time since 1980, led by Isaac Jones and Myles Rice on the All-Conference First Team, while Jaylen Wells picked up honorable mention

MARCH MADNESS RETURNS TO PALOUSE
For the first time since 2008, the madness of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament descended on Pullman. The Cougars were named the No. 7 seed in the East Region of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, marking the seventh all-time program appearance by the Cougs and the first for Kyle Smith as a head coach. The Cougars defeated Drake in the First Round advancing out of the opening round in each of the last three bids to the NCAA Tournament (2007, 2008, 2024).

COUGS’ HISTORIC CURTAIN CALL THROUGH CONFERENCE
Kyle Smith has become associated with the most successful coaches to come through the Palouse, including George Raveling, Kelvin Sampson, and Tony Bennett. The Cougs are 25-9 for the first time since 2007-08, when Wazzu was 26-8, and went to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Kyle has guided the Cougs to their best 33-game start in the Pac-12 era with a 14-6 Conference record, matching the WSU all-time League wins record set in 1979-80 and 1982-83. Smith is the only coach in Cougar history to earn two top-10 wins in the same season. WSU won eight straight League games for just the third time in program history (1946-47), and strung together two 7-win streaks against Conference opponents in back-to-back seasons for the first time in WSU history. The Cougars have clinched their third-straight postseason appearances for just the second time in program history.

MYLES RICE NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Rice became the first player in WSU men’s basketball history to be named the Conference Freshman of the Year, scoring 15.1 points per game. Seven times, Rice was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, becoming the first player in Conference history to win 4-straight weekly awards, while tying Evan Mobley for most Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards in League history. The Columbia, S.C. native became the Cougars’ all-team freshman recordholder in single-season points (506), steals (54), assists (132), field goals made (184), and field goals attempted (423). Rice scored in double figures 26 times this season, capped by dropping a WSU freshman single-game record 35 points at Stanford, Jan. 18, to become just the third freshman in the last 20 years to put up 35 points with eight assists as a freshman, joining Trae Young and Markelle Fultz.

TRIO OF COUGS EARN ALL-PAC-12 HONORS
In addition to his Freshman of the Year honors, Rice was also named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. The standout freshman leads the Cougs with 132 assists, first in WSU freshman history and fourth in the Pac-12. With 54 steals, Rice also averages a team-best 1.59 steals per game, fifth in the League. Two Cougars were named to the Conference First Team for the first time since Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver were named to the 2007 All-Pac-10 First Team, and just the fourth time in school history. Three Cougars earned Conference recognition for just the fourth time in school history. Rice, Jones, and Wells became the first WSU trio to pick up League honors since Don Collins, Bryan Rison, and Stuart House all nabbed Pac-10 votes in 1980.

JOHN R. WOODEN COACH OF THE YEAR KYLE SMITH
Kyle Smith became the fourth coach in Cougar history to be named the John R. Wooden Coach of the Year, and first WSU coach in the Pac-12 era to earn the award when the Conference announced this year’s awards, March 13. This season, Smith surpassed 250 career wins and led WSU to a 23-8 regular season finish, the best since 2007-08. After being picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll, Smith led the Cougs to a second-place finish, matching the program’s best finish in the Pac era. Smith guided the Cougs to a 14-6 Conference record, matching the WSU all-time League wins record set in 1979-80 and 1982-83. Smith is the only coach in Cougar history to earn two top-10 wins in the same season. WSU won eight straight League games for just the third time in program history (1946-47) and strung together two 7-win streaks against Conference opponents in back-to-back seasons for the first time in WSU history.

ISAAC JONES NAMED TO ALL-PAC-12 FIRST TEAM
Jones was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team as WSU’s leading scorer and rebounder. The Spanaway, Washington senior averaged 15.5 points per game over the season, surpassing 1,000 career points, Feb. 17, in just two seasons of Division-I basketball. A two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week, Jones shoots the ball at a .578 clip, fourth in the Pac-12 and 30th nationally. Jones has excelled on the glass, averaging 7.5 rebounds per game, fourth in the Pac-12, with 10 double-doubles this season, including WSU’s first NCAA Tournament double-double. In January, Jones posted back-to-back double-doubles in wins at Southern California and against then-No. 8 Arizona. The performance earned Jones several national player of the week awards, including ESPN, Naismith, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Pac-12 Conference honors. Jones recognition as Pac-12 Player of the Week marked the first Cougar honoree since Noah Williams was named the Conference Player of the Week, Feb. 22, 2021.

YESUFU RETURNS TO MIDWEST
Fifth-year senior transfer Joseph Yesufu returns to the Midwest where he began his college career in Des Moines at Drake University. As a sophomore, Yesufu exploded on to the scene in the Missouri Valley Conference, winning MVC Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 12.8 ppg. Yesufu, who has sat out at WSU since November with a hip injury, transferred to Kansas prior to his junior year, where he won a national championship as part of the Jayhawks bench. This year marks the fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bolingbrook, Ill., native after participating in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

COACH SHAW FIVE DECADES OF SUCCESS
Washington State Associate Head Coach Jim Shaw reached an impressive milestone when the Cougars earned their NCAA tournament bid. WSU becomes the sixth school Shaw has coached at in five different decades that has made the “Big Dance” (Idaho State in 1987, Oregon State in 1990, Portland in 1996, Oklahoma from 2000 to 2003, and Washington in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

TOP HALF OF THE PAC
Smith is the first head coach in Washington State men’s basketball history to finish at or above .500 in his first five seasons on the Palouse, guiding the Cougs to a 2nd place finish in the Pac-12, matching the best finish since finishing runner-up in 2006-07. Smith is the only coach in Washington State history to post a winning record since the Conference expanded to 12 teams, and the first Cougar coach to post a .500 or better record in five-straight seasons for the first time since 1992-96. Smith also became the first Coach with a .500 or better record in League play since posting five-straight winning records in Pac-10 from 1991-92 to 1995-96.

RANKINGS RETURN TO THE PALOUSE
Wazzu is ranked No. 25 in the latest AP Poll, marking the fifth consecutive week in the national rankings. WSU tamed the Arizona Wildcats Feb. 22, beating No. 4 Arizona for a 2-0 mark against AP top-25 teams this season. The Cougs swept the home-and-home vs Arizona for the first time since 2009-2010 and won in consecutive seasons at Tucson for the first time since 1982-84. WSU followed by sweeping the USC Trojans for the first time since 2011-12 and secured a home sweep of the Los Angeles Pac-12 schools for the first time since 2012-13.

WELLS IN THE CLUTCH
Jaylen Wells, an All-Pac-12 honorable mention, exploded onto the Conference scene, becoming a regular starter in the Jan. 10 win at USC. Twice he scored a season-high 27 points, in wins at No. 4 Arizona and against UCLA, part of a larger string of 14 consecutive double-figure scoring games. Wells became the first Coug in four years to shoot a perfect 10 of 10 from the freethrow line since Isaac Bonton and finished Conference play averaging 14.6 points per game and shooting 43.6% from 3-point range and 86.4% from the charity stripe.

COUGS CLIMB TO 14 CONFERENCE WINS
With WSU’s March 2 win over UCLA, the No. 19 Cougars earned their 14th Conference win of the year, matching a program record set in 1979-80 and 1982-83.

LAST TIME OUT // VS NO. 7 DRAKE
DRAKE 61 // WSU 66 // MARCH 21, 2024 // OMAHA, NEB.
Isaac Jones had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Isaiah Watts’ first 3-pointer in three games gave Washington State the lead with 1:51 left and the seventh-seeded Cougars beat No. 10 Drake 66-61 in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night. The Cougars shot just 29.6% while trailing most of the second half, but Drake’s season-worst 6-of-14 performance at the free-throw line allowed the Cougs to win in their first tournament appearance since 2008.

SMITH NAMED NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST
Kyle Smith was named a 2024 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Semifinalist, the organized announced last Friday. Smith, the John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year, has guided WSU to its best season in the Pac-12 era and a 20-win regular season for the first time since 2007-08. Coach Smith is the first Cougar men’s basketball coach to earn the recognition since Tony Bennett won the 2007 Naismith National Coach of the Year, following a second-place finish in the Pac-10 and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1993-94.

COACH KYLE – KING OF THE PNW
Since arriving on the Palouse prior to the 2019-20 season, WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith has dominated his fellow Pac-12 Pacific Northwest opponents. Against Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington, Coach Smith is a combined 20-8 and defeated all three regional rivals in back-to-back-to-back succession on the road for the first time since 1993-94 under Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars swept the Huskies, Ducks, and Beavers in Pullman for two-straight seasons and finished a 3-game PNW roadswing unblemished. Coach Smith is 11-3 at Beasley Coliseum against Conference PNW opponents.

FULFILLING FEBRUARY IN PAC-12
For the first time since 1914-15 and the first time in the Pac-era, Washington State won seven League games in the calendar month of February. WSU has won seven games in the second month of the year seven times in program history, and the first time since the 1937-38 season. WSU’s seven Pac-12 wins in February matches the seven League wins WSU had in the 1915 Northwest Collegiate Conference. The most February Conference wins came in the 1912-13 season, with Washington State College winning nine NWC games in February.

NATIONAL RIM PROTECTORS
WSU has owned the height advantage early into conference play, boasting 164 blocks, 4.8 per game, and one block shy of the single-season school record. The Cougars’ average is 26th nationally and the Cougs are ranked No. 38 in the country according to KenPom’s effective block percentage. True freshman Rueben Chinyelu leads the Coug with 43 rejections, the all-time freshman blocks leader in WSU history. Four Cougs have 24+ blocks each (Chinyelu, Cluff, Houinsou, and Jones). In the Dec. 2 win over Portland State, the Cougs swatted away a season-high 10 shots, marking the first time since March 2022 with 10+ blocks in a game.

RUEBEN’S BIG BLOCKS
True freshman Rueben Chinyelu has turned heads on the West Coast with a 7’8″ wingspan and as one of the best young rim protectors in college basketball. Chinyelu, a native of Nigeria, set the WSU freshman single-season blocks record with 43 rejections. Chinyelu averages 1.26 blocks per game, fourth overall in the Pac-12 Conference. Chinyelu also shoots the ball at an efficient 61.4% from the floor. Chinyelu recently passed Stuart Houes (1977) in single-season freshman rebounding and is sixth in freshman program history.

COUGS CLOSE CONFERENCE ROAD SWING
Wazzu completed its Pac-12 road schedule 6-4, marking the first time since 2007-08 WSU has finished with a winning record in road conference games, when the Cougs finished 6-3 in Pac-10 road games.

ISAAC IS HIM
In his outing in the win vs Stanford, Jones scored 15 points, surpassing 1,000 career points and earning Pac-12 Player of the Week. Jones shoots the ball at a .578 clip,  fourth in the Pac-12 and 30th nationally. Jones has excelled on the glass, leading the Cougs with 7.5 rebounds per game, also fourth in Conference. Jones has led the Cougars in rebounding 17 times with 10 double-doubles.

DON’T SQUANDER THE LEAD
Wazzu is 21-0 this year when entering the halftime break with a lead. Most recently, the Cougs beat Drake, 66-61, after taking a 4-point lead into intermission. By contrast, WSU is 4-9 this year when trailing or tied at the half.

JAK IS BACK
Senior Andrej Jakimovski returned as the Cougars’ only 4-year veteran and entered the season fully healthy for the first time since his freshman year. Most recently, Jakimovski surpassed 500 career rebounds, Feb. 22, to become the first Coug since 2019 to eclipse the mark. Jakimovski exploded for a game-high 21 points in the season opener, one shy of his career high. The North Macedonian made his 115th game appearance and started his 75th game against UCLA, March 2, and has scored in double figures 17 times. Jakimovski dropped a team-high 20 points at Cal, marking his third 20+ point game of the season. Jakimovski has increased his points per game average output by 4.4 ppg since arriving on campus and upped his rebounding average by 1.4 rpg over the same four-year timeframe. Jakimovski has moved into the WSU record books top-10 for career 3-pointers made (183, ninth) and 3-pointers attempted (531, seventh).

MYLES MIXES IT UP
Myles Rice has shown his skills with the ball, dominating ball control on both the offensive and defensive ends. Rice dished out a career-high eight assists at Stanford, matching the career-high in the win over USC. Rice has distributed at least three assists in 21 of his last 22 games, and 5+ assists 11 times. The standout freshman leads the Cougs with a WSU freshman record 132 assists (3.9 apg, 4th in Pac-12). Rice also set the WSU freshman season steals record, averaging a team-best 1.59 steals per game (54 total, 5th in Pac-12).

STIFLING DEFENSE
The Cougars’ defense has fit Coach Smith’s mold of winning with grit, as WSU is second in the Pac-12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.422) and second in the League in blocks per game (4.8). The Cougs limit opponents to 66.7 ppg, second in the Pac-12. In the win over No. 8 Arizona, the Cougs held the Wildcats to their lowest output of the season, following with the lowest output by Utah (57) and its worst 3-point shooting game of the year (18.2%). More recently WSU clamped down Oregon for their lowest scoring total of the year (56) and just 22.2% from 3-point range.

CHINYELU WINS PAC-12 FOTW
Rueben Chinyelu was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, Feb. 26, after securing his first-career double-double in the win at No. 4 Arizona. Chinyelu played a career-high 28 minutes, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. More recently, Chinyelu set the WSU freshman blocks record, and is on pace to finish in the top-5 for field goal percentage and rebounding in WSU freshman history.

WATTS REPS WEST SEATTLE
True freshman Isaiah Watts popped off for a career-high 18 points in the win over USC, Feb. 29. The Washington native finished 5 of 6 from 3-point range for the best performance of his young career. Watts led the Cougs in scoring for the first time in his career, while picking up his second double-digit performance this season. He concluded the regular season with 15 points in the loss to Washington, marking two double-digit games in the final three.

DIFFERENT KINDA COUGS
WSU is built different this season, regularly with two inside men, a different look from Coach Smith’s recent Palouse teams, which played with four or all five men outside. The change has results in a higher percentage of shots in the paint, and a 2-point field goal percentage over 52%.

NOT SO FAST…
Fast break points have been hard to come by for Wazzu’s opponents with just 209 transition points allowed all season. Wazzu is quick to get back on defense, outscoring opponents in fast break opportunities 8.3 to 6.1 points in transition per game.

GETTING PAINT TOUCHES
Kyle Smith has made it clear the Cougs thrive when everyone on the team gets paint touches. Wazzu has outscored its opponents 1184-1010 in the key. Against Stanford, Jan. 22, WSU scored a season-high 58 points in the paint and three times has scored 50+ points in the key. The Cougars are getting just under 50% of their scoring from inside the key (34.8 points per game), while holding opponents to an average 29.7 points in the paint per game.

KYLE ECLIPSES 250 VICTORIES
With the Jan. 18 win over Oregon State in Corvallis, WSU Head Coach Kyle Smith earned his 250th Division-I coaching victory, the final 86 coming at Washington State. Smith holds the sixth-most wins in WSU coaching history, and sits eighth in all-time career wins by a WSU coach.

JONES PASSES 1,000 CAREER POINTS
With 15 points in the Feb. 17 win over Stanford, Jones eclipsed 1,000 career points. Jones, who is ineligible for WSU’s career record marks, which require two seasons on the Cougar team, became the first WSU student-athlete since C.J. Elleby to eclipse 1,000 career points, and the 39th in Cougar men’s basketball history. Jones reached the milestone in efficient fashion, playing just 57 career games, averaging 17.7 points per game on 61.2% shooting.

ANDREJ GRABS 500 CAREER BOARDS
Four-year veteran Andrej Jakimovski pulled down five rebounds in the win at No. 4 Arizona, surpassing the 500-career rebounds mark. The North Macedonian became the first Coug since Robert Franks (2015-19) to surpass 500 career rebounds.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Cougars completed their nonconference schedule undefeated at Beasley Coliseum, and only lost twice in Conference, boasting a 15-2 home record. WSU’s 15 wins matches a single-season record for home victories, last achieved in 1982-83.

WEEKLY CONFERENCE AWARDS SWEEP
For the second time this season, Isaac Jones and Myles Rice swept the weekly awards from the Pac-12 Conference, Feb. 19, marking the first time in League history with same duo sweeping the weekly awards twice in a single season. The Cougs picked up the awards after a sweep of Cal and Stanford at home. The Cougars first earned both the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week honors, Jan. 15, after winning at USC and beating No. 8 Arizona at home. WSU is the only school with multiple sweeps in the same season.

NEW YEAR SUCCESS
Washington State finished with a 6-2 record in January, marking the first time in 41 years with six Conference wins in the first calendar month. WSU last achieved the feat in 1982-83, wracking up a program-record eight wins in the month, seven Pac-10 victories under the direction of future Hall of Fame Head Coach George Raveling. The Cougars finished February with a 7-1 record and tallied their best 12-game Conference stretch since the 1944-45 season, finishing the Pacific Coast Conference schedule 13-1.

MYLES SETS FROSH SCORING MARK
The 7-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week continued to make a strong case for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, dropping a WSU freshman single-game record 35 points at Stanford, Jan. 18. Rice scored more points than any freshman in the Pac-12 this year, adding eight assists. Rice became just the third freshman in the last 20 years to put up 35 points with eight assists as a freshman, joining Trae Young and Markelle Fultz. Rice finished 15 of 24 from the floor, including 5 of 10 from downtown in the win on The Farm, adding four steals with just two turnovers. Rice’s performance is the highest single-game scoring output by a freshman in high-major basketball this year, matching Duke’s Jarred McCain, and Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham.

JONES CLAIMS NATIONAL AWARDS
Fifth-year senior transfer Isaac Jones has taken a leading role as the Cougars leading scorer at 15.5 ppg (11th in Pac-12) and top rebounder with 7.5 rpg (fourth in Pac-12). In January, the Spanaway, Wash., native recorded back-to-back double-doubles with 26 points and 11 rebounds in a win at Southern California, before scoring 24 points with a season-high 13 rebounds in a win over then-No. 8 Arizona. The performance earned Jones several national player of the week awards, including ESPN, Naismith, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Pac-12 Conference honors. Jones recognition as Pac-12 Player of the Week marked the first Cougar honoree since Noah Williams was named the Conference Player of the Week, Feb. 22, 2021. Most recently, Jones surpassed 1,000 career points and scored in double figures 18 times in Pac-12 play.

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE
The Cougars have used their height advantage all season, outrebounding opponents in all but five games. On the defensive glass, WSU holds opponents to an average of 8.2 second-chance points per game. In the game at Utah, Dec. 29, the Cougs grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds, the most in two years. WSU boasts a +6.1 rebounding margin, which ranks 23rd nationally, and scores 12.3 second chance points per game. In the win over Utah, the Cougs outscored the Utes 21-4 on second-chance points, later beating Colorado with a 16-4 advantage in second-chance, outscoring the Buffs 13-0 in the second half.

CLUFF CLIMBS TO DIVISION-I
Junior college transfer Oscar Cluff has come to life in Conference play. After 16 points in a loss at Colorado, Cluff led the Cougs with a career-high 20 points and matched a career-high with team-best eight rebounds against Oregon State. More recently, the Australian registered his first career double-double with a WSU single-game season high 14 rebounds and 12 points at Stanford, following with 13 points in the win over Utah. Cluff sits ninth in the Pac-12, just behind Jones, with a 53.8 field goal percentage.

KYMANY THE “FRENCH ARMY KNIFE”
Sophomore Kymany Houinsou does a little bit of everything and has taken over additional guard duties with Yesufu out, dishing out 72 assists. At USC, Jan. 10, Houinsou played in his 50th collegiate game. At Washington, Feb. 3, Houinsou sealed the win for Wazzu with clampdown defense on the final overtime possession. In the Cougars win over California, Feb. 15, Houinsou dished five assists, matching a Conference game career-high, while adding four rebounds and two blocks. In the loss at ASU, Houinsou matched a Pac-12 career-high with nine points, despite illness.

TOMMY’S KRYPTONITE KYLE
Kyle Smith is the only head coach to hold Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats to under 35% field goal shooting on multiple occasions. Arizona has only shot under 35% five times under Lloyd, and WSU is the only school to claim multiple clampdowns against the ‘Cats. With the win over then-No. 8 Arizona, WSU claimed wins over a top-10 team in back-to-back seasons since the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. WSU snapped a 14-game home losing streak to U of A and secured wins over Arizona in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Since taking over the Arizona program, Lloyd has lost just three times at McKale Center, twice to Coach Smith and the Washington State Cougars.

HOMEGROWN ROSTER
The Cougars boast six student-athletes on the 2023-24 roster from the state of Washington, including three former Washington State Players of the Year. Senior Jabe Mullins was named the WIAA 4A Player of the Year in 2020, followed by sophomore Dylan Darling in 2022, and incoming freshman Parker Gerrits last spring.

MYLES’ MIRACLE RETURN
Redshirt-freshman Myles Rice waited two seasons on the sideline before getting to play his first college basketball game. After redshirting his true freshman year during 2021-22, Rice was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma prior to the 2022-23 season and underwent chemotherapy treatment throughout the academic year. Last spring, Myles received his last chemotherapy treatment and was declared in remission. The Columbia, S.C. native got the starting nod in the season opener and played 29 minutes in the win.

TWO SIGN TO PLAY FOR WAZZU
WSU announced two new Cougars who signed National Letters of Intent to play college basketball in Pullman next fall. Evan Stinson signed as the No. 2 prospect in Washington State, a small forward from Cheney, Washington. Marcus Wilson, a native of Albuquerque, signed as a combo guard currently competing at highly-regarded Bella Vista Prep.

GUEYE DRAFTED TO ATLANTA HAWKS
Sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, an All-Pac-12 First Team selection was drafted in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft at No. 39 by the Charlotte Hornets. Gueye, who led the Pac-12 Conference with 15 double-doubles and grabbed more offensive rebounds than any player in the Pac-12, was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, where he played significant minutes throughout NBA Summer League and made his NBA regular season debut before suffering a stress fracture in his lower back and has been sidelined this season.

MYLES IS CANCER FREE
On March 9, 2023, Myles Rice received his final chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He rung the victory bell at the treatment center in Moscow, Idaho and was declared cancer-free and in remission in June. He received a medical redshirt for this season and entered the 2023-24 season with four years of eligibility.

COURTESY WASHINGTON STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS