WHAT: Washington State (8-10, 1-4) at Oregon State (11-6, 3-2)

WHERE: Gill Coliseum (9,604), Corvallis, Ore.

WHEN: Thur., Jan. 24, 8 p.m. PT

TV/RADIO: Pac-12 Network (JB Long and Matt Muehlebach); Washington State IMG Sports Network (Matt Chazanow)

Three Pac-12 men’s basketball teams have yet to win on the road during the 2018-19 season, and Washington State (0-5) is one of them along with USC (0-4) and last place California (0-6).

Two weeks after a rocky (literally) trip to the Rocky Mountain schools, the Cougars look to finally break through on the road when they face Oregon State Thursday night at creaky Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. Sunday, the Cougars travel about 30 miles south to Eugene for a matchup against sputtering Oregon.

Ernie Kent understands, though, that nothing comes easy in the Pac-12, especially on the road.

“In this conference, every team is a tough matchup on the road,” Kent said. “We have to take advantage of every opportunity. If we put ourselves in position to close the game, we need to do that. Everybody in our league has a great home court advantage where they play more comfortable at home.

“Oregon State is one of the older arenas. When their crowd is roaring, you feel it. It’s a great college basketball environment when the fans are there and the noise is there. You really have to handle yourself in that environment.”

In order to give themselves any chance of winning against either Oregon school, WSU must shore up its leaky defense. The Cougars are 11th in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (77.3 ppg) and are allowing 80.4 points in the first five Pac-12 contests. Four of the first five Pac-12 opponents have shot better than 54.6 percent from the field.

“When we turn the ball over, take bad shots and don’t block out, teams are scoring on us at a pretty high clip,” Kent said. “I’d say about 50 percent of their points are coming from our bad shots and turnovers and giving up a bad basket in transition. All those things are in our control.

“Our guys have seen it on film. It’s just a matter of having the discipline to understand it and do it, game in and game out. We have to really play smart and not turn the ball over on the road. If you take bad shots, the road can be very tough on you.”

Three-point specialist Carter Skaggs has been pushed to the bench largely because of his defensive deficiencies and the fact most Pac-12 teams have caught up with him from a scouting perspective.

Skaggs played 29 minutes at Washington in the Pac-12 opener, but has seen his playing time plummet to 3 minutes against California and 7 minutes against Stanford in the last two games. He has made just one of his last seven 3-point attempts.

“All Carter has to do is stay positive,’ Kent said. “I told Carter that if anybody should enjoy Washington State, it’s him. He was not recruited and we were lucky to get him. He had an incredible year (in 2017-18) because he was perfect for our system and style of play. Unfortunately, everybody knows who he is now. People are sitting on him.

“He doesn’t have the athleticism to blow by people and dunk on them. He is a terrific basketball player in the open court where we can find him. That’s why it’s important to take good shots. When we take good shots, he’ll get his share. What’s wrong with Carter is what’s wrong with this team when we take bad shots. It knocks us out of rhythm. We have lot of basketball left.”

Oregon State dropped both games in the state of Arizona last weekend after a promising 3-0 start. Junior Tres Tinkle, son of head coach Wayne Tinkle, is one of the hottest scorers in the Pac-12 scoring 20-plus points in six of his last seven games. He needs 37 points to reach 1,400 in his career.

Ethan Thompson is eighth in the Pac-12 in scoring in conference games (16.2) and has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 12 games. His brother, Stephen Thompson Jr., has made 200 career 3-pointers and is currently third in the Pac-12 in assist/turnover ratio in conference games (1.9).

Best news for WSU? Everybody on the roster is healthy and available for the for the first time since conference play began three weeks ago.

“This will be the first true road game this season where we’ve had our whole team healthy,” Kent said. “The key this week is getting our guys on their game so when we get into those two environments over there, their games and their confidence is ready to raise up to that level. If they do, it will two great games and we’ll have an opportunity to win.

“I’m anxious to get on the road and see how our team responds with everybody being together and everybody being healthy now.”

NEXT FIVE GAMES:

Jan. 24 at Oregon State, 8 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Jan. 27 at Oregon, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

Jan. 30 UCLA, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 2 USC, 4 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 7 at Arizona State, 5 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

PAC-12 SCHEDULE (Jan. 24-27)

Thur., Jan. 24

Washington at Oregon, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

Utah at Stanford, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Arizona at USC, 6 p.m. (FS1)

Colorado at California, 8 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Washington State at Oregon State (Pac-12 Network)

Arizona State at UCLA, 8 p.m. (FS1)

Sat., Jan. 26

Washington at Oregon State, 1 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Arizona State at USC, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

Colorado at Stanford, 5 p.m. (FS1)

Utah at California, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

Arizona at UCLA, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sun. Jan. 27

Washington State at Oregon, 5 p.m. (ESPNU)

(All Times Pacific)