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WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (8-11, 3-3) at SAN FRANCISCO DONS (12-8, 4-3)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026

4:02 p.m. PT

San Francisco, California

War Memorial at the Sobrato Center

Capacity: 3,005

COUGAR SPORTS NETWORK

Seattle 770AM & 94.5FM 

Spokane 920AM & 100.7FM

Pullman 104.3FM | Tri-Cities 610AM

Chris King & Craig Ehlo

TV & STREAMING

ESPN+ & ESPN App

Play-by-Play: Barry Tompkins

Analyst: Dan Belluomini

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time: 3-2

at San Francisco: 2-1

First Meeting: Dec. 23, 1950 (53-45)

Last Meeting: March 9, 2025 (75-86)

OPENING TIPS

1. The Washington Stae Cougars begin a two-game road trip to California with a Sunday matchup against the San Francisco Dons, January 18, at 4 p.m. at War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco.

2. True freshman Ace Glass is a two-time WCC Freshman of the Week after leading the Cougars in scoring to close nonconference play and breaking the WSU freshman single-game scoring record with 40 points vs ASU. The Rialto, California native leads WSU averaging 15.9 ppg, sixth in the WCC, best by a freshman, and 17th nationally for a freshman.

3. ND Okafor recorded his first-career double-double to close 2025, scoring 11 points and adding a career-best 12 rebounds. He leads the team in efficiency, shooting the ball 59.7% from the floor and averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Okafor is second in the WCC in blocks (30) and ranks 56th nationally, having recorded a rejection in 12 of the last 14 games.

4. Eemeli Yalaho averages 9.5 points per game and a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game, 13th in WCC. The Finn scored 14 points with 10 rebounds to close nonconference, his third double-double as a Coug. Yalaho has led the Cougs in rebounding seven times in 19 games.

5. Jerone Morton has found his groove in WCC action, delivering a complete performance in the win over Oregon State with 13 points. The Kentucky kid followed with a career-high nine assists against Saint Mary’s. Morton leads the team with 2.8 assists per game and scores 10.5 ppg in WCC.

LAST TIME OUT

Washington State lost to No. 9 Gonzaga, 65-86, Thursday evening at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. The Cougars played a back-and-forth first half with the visiting Bulldogs before the Zags built a double-digit lead and the top-25 side expanded the lead after halftime. Simon Hildebrandt and Jerone Morton each tallied WSU career highs with 16 points. The upperclassmen shared scoring responsibilities with freshman Ace Glass, who added 16 points for his seventh-straight game in double figures. The Cougars struggled with Gonzaga’s size as ND Okafor went to the bench early with foul trouble and played limited minutes in the second half. WSU was outscored in the paint 52-12 and allowed an opponent season-high 43 rebounds.

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

The Dons are led by fourth-year head coach Chris Gerlufsen with seven returners, holding a 12-8 record. San Francisco is more international than the Cougs with student-athletes from nine different countries. Ryan Beasley leads USF in scoring (14.2), assists (3.3), and steals (1.2). In the frontcourt, David Fuchs grabs 7.5 rebounds per game, while Mookie Cook averages 1.2 blocks per game.

AARON ACES NONCONFERENCE

True freshman Ace Glass has stepped into a leading roll for the Cougars, averaging a team-best 15.9 points per game, breaking the WSU freshman single-game scoring record with 40 points versus Arizona State, and picking up a pair of WCC Freshman of the Week honors. The Rialto, California kid sits sixth in the West Coast Conference in scoring, best by a freshman, and 17th nationally by a freshman. Most recently, Glass scored 16 points against No. 9 Gonzaga, delivering his seventh-consecutive double-figure game and 14th in the last 15 contests.

OKAFOR BLOCKS MORE

ND Okafor is the Cougars’ leading rim protector, having led the Cougs 13 times in single-game blocks, totalling 30 on the season, second in WCC and 56th nationally. The Irishman has registered at least one rejection in 12 of the last 14 games, including a career-high five blocks against Nevada, Dec. 7. Against Seattle U, Okafor recorded his first-career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. The junior watched much of WSU’s contest with Gonzaga from the bench, picking up early foul trouble and playing limited second-half minutes.

UP NEXT

Wazzu concludes its two-game California road swing with a visit to San Diego to face the Toreros, Wednesday, January 21. WSU and USD will tip off at 6:30 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.

PICK YOUR POISON

Five Cougars average 9.0+ points per game, while five different Cougs have delivered 20-point performances at least once this season, including Glass, Okafor, Thrastarson, Ugbo, and Vavers. Both Okafor and Yalaho have each recorded double-doubles.

ROAD WARRIORS

The Cougs have played the 23rd toughest schedule in the country according to NCAA NET rankings. With its arrival to the Bay Area, WSU will have traveled over 19,000 commercial airline miles and played games in four time zones. 

WINNING THE GLASS BATTLE

WSU ranks 10th in the country in defending against offensive rebounding, according to KenPom – that is, they prevent opponents from getting offensive boards – holding opponents to a 25.0% defended offensive rebounding percentage. Against Seattle U Dec. 30, the Cougars grabbed 54 rebounds the most in a single-game since 1997 when pulling down 58 rebounds against Oregon. WSU outrebounded the Redhawks 54-28, a +26 rebounding margin, the largest of Coach Riley’s tenure and the second +20 rebounding margin for the Cougs this season.

GO YALAHO GO

Junior Texas Tech transfer Eemeli Yalaho has quietly become a double-double threat, delivering three this season. The Finn is averaging 9.5 points per game and a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game. Twice this season Yalaho has pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds and scored 10+ points on 11 occasions.

UNITED NATIONS OF COUGS

WSU boasts players from eight different countries across North America and Europe. The West Coast Conference men’s basketball teams have the greatest percentage of international student-athletes of any Division I conference with 39.3 percent of rosters made of international student-athletes. 

MORTON MOJO

Junior Morehead State transfer Jerone Morton has found his footing, sharing ballhandling responsibilities through 16 starts in 19 games, and leading the team in assists (54). Morton is averaging 7.5 points per game, team-best 2.84 assists per game, and 1.7 rebounds per game. In the Cougs’ win over LMU, January 2, Morton delivered a season-high 15 points, matching his career-high with three 3-point field goals, before following with 13 points against Oregon State and another three triples over the Beavers. Most recently, Morton dished out a career-high nine assists at Saint Mary’s, January 10.

CONTROL THE ROCK

Washington State has struggled to control the ball in several key areas including turnovers forced, turnover margin, steals, and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Cougars are forcing just 10.3 turnovers per game, 326th in Division-I. WSU ranks 347th nationally with a negative turnover margin of -3.4, 304th in steals per game (5.7), while ranking 328th nationally with a 0.90 assist-to-turnover ratio.

LINE IN THE SAND

As a team, Washington State is shooting the ball at 45.9%. When the Cougars shoot over 45%, they are 7-2, but are just 1-9 when held under 45% shooting. The Cougs are also 7-3 this season when scoring 70+ points, however when they are held under 70 points, WSU is 1-8.

COMEBACK KIDS

Washington State is the only Division-I team in the country since the start of last season to play multiple games in which both team held a 17-point lead. WSU won both contests. Against Chaminade, November 24, the Cougars trailed by as many 20 points before rallying to victory. In David Riley‘s first game as Cougar head coach in 2024-25, WSU rallied from a 17-point deficit against Portland State, to secure victory. 

ROAD WARRIORS

Cougs have played the 104th toughest schedule in the country according to NCAA NET rankings. WSU has traveled over 16,600 miles and played games in four time zones. 

UNFORCED ERRORS

In non-steal turnovers, the Cougars rank 327th nationally, according to KenPom. In other terms, the majority of the Cougars turnovers as unforced errors and not caused by the opponent defense with a 9.0 non-steal turnover percentage.

SPOKANE ARENA HISTORY

Washington State hosted Oregon State at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane, January 4, improving to 24-19 all-time at Spokane Arena dating back to 1995. The Cougars are 4-1 all-time in conference games at Veterans Arena and improved to 4-0 against OSU in the Lilac City.

TOMAS TURNS UP

Tomas Thrastarson has turned heads with his offseason development after being named to the 2024-25 WCC All-Freshman Team, playing in 31 games with 11 starts, averaging 4.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 19 blocks. Thrastarson has matched or bested his career-high three times, including a 20-point game versus Nevada. In the opener against Idaho, Thrastarson finished 11-of-12 from the charity stripe. Thrastarson is currently out for 3-5 weeks with a left foot stress fracture.

BENCH BUCKLES DOWN

Four times this season the WSU bench has scored 40+ points in a single game, most recently dropping 45 rotation points on Eastern Washington, Dec. 17. The WSU bench scored a season high 67 points in the Maui opening win over Chaminade and averages 27.4 ppg from the rotation.

RILEY RUNS IT BACK

David Riley began his second season at WSU after finishing his first season on the Palouse 19-15 with a postseason berth to the inaugural College Basketball Crown. The selection marked a third postseason in four seasons for Coach Riley, and fourth-consecutive postseason for the Cougs. 

EMMANUEL ENCHANTS

Transfer Emmanuel Ugbo (Boise State) led the Cougars in scoring twice and rebounding in three of the first four games, before delivering a career-high 20 points against Eastern Washington, December 17. Ugbo is averaging 7.1 ppg and 3.5 rpg. In his WSU debut in the season opener versus Idaho, Ugbo matched his career high with 17 points and added a career-high eight rebounds. At Davidson, Ugbo earned his first Coug start, delivering 16 points and five rebounds.

ADRIA DISHES SPANISH FLARE

Incoming senior Adria Rodriguez, a member of Spanish second-division club Alicante, has shown his floor general prowess as the Cougs leading assister in eight of his first 19 games. The Catalonia kid is averaging 2.4 assists per game, including some eye-popping between-the-legs passes through heavy traffic. Adria has led the team in steals eight times and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds against No. 9 Gonzaga, January 15.

COUGARS PICKED SIXTH IN WCC

Entering the 2025-26 season as an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference, Wazzu was selected sixth in the preseason coaches poll. The Cougars did not receive an honoree on the conference preseason team.

COUGS BOND IN EUROPEAN TRIP

The Cougars took an international tour this summer, visiting England and Spain. WSU played three exhibition games over 10 days, while sightseeing London, Malaga, and Barcelona. The Cougs say the London Eye, Big Ben, La Sagrada Familia, and excursioned around the Mediterranean Sea in southern Spain.

BRAYDEN KYMAN INKS DEAL

Class of 2026 senior Brayden Kyman, a 6-8 power forward from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, signed a financial aid agreement to play basketball at Washington State beginning next season. The versatile forward can score at all three levels with a deep range and length to work inside. 

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

During Riley’s first season the Cougs set school records in shots made (968) and assists (574), more than any previous team in school history. The Cougs finished ninth in the country in field goal percentage, 19th in assists, and 20th in blocks.

NEW PAC-12 ON THE HORIZON

The revitalized Pac-12 Conference is set to launch July 1, 2026 with a strong slate of men’s basketball programs including Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State.

COWARD JOINS THE ASSOCIATION

Cedric Coward, a 2024 WCC All-Preseason selection, and graduate of WSU, was drafted No. 11 in the 2025 NBA Draft, joining the Memphis Grizzlies after a trade. Coward, who played just six games last season prior to suffering a season-ending injury, linked up with 2024 WSU Draftee, Jaylen Wells. There are currently five Cougars playing in the NBA — Cedric Coward, Mouhamed Gueye, Isaac Jones, Klay Thompson, and Jaylen Wells.