MBK: Cougs face BYU in Provo tonight in NIT quarterfinals
WHAT: Washington State (21-14) at BYU (24-10)
WHEN: Wed., March 23, 7 pm MT (Local); 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Marriot Center, Provo, UT
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
WATCH: ESPN2 (Dave Feldman & Perry Clark)
LISTEN: WSU Learfield Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)
OPENING FIVE: For the third time in six NIT appearances, the Cougs are headed to the Third Round as they take on BYU Wednesday in Provo for the right to go to Madison Square Garden. WSU and BYU face off for the 11th time all-time and the first time since 2005. Remarkably the Cougs are 3-3 all-time in Provo including winning the last two in 1997 and 1985.
The Cougs defeated SMU in Round 2 in Dallas knocking off the 1-seed and handing the Mustangs their first home loss of the season, snapping the nation's 3rd longest home win streak. The road win was just the second all-time on the road in the NIT for the Cougs.
In two games in the NIT, the Cougs have been dominant on the glass posting team records for rebounds in back-to-back games including a 46 rebound effort at SMU. It's been their presence on the offensive glass grabbing 27 o-boards leading to 27 second-chance points.
TOP PLAYERS: Michael Flowers enters the game just 2 three-pointers shy of tying Klay Thompson's (2011) single-season three-point record of 98. Defensively the Cougs have allowed 64.9 points per game and are 27th in the country in defensive rating at 93.4 per 100 possessions. (DI average of 102.9). Efe Abogidi leads the way with a defensive rating of 90.2.
WSU IN THE NIT: The Cougs enter the third round of the NIT for the third time in six tournament appearances and for the first time since 2011. All time at the NIT, the Cougs are 9-5 including going 3-1 in 2011 as the WSU, led by Klay Thompson, played its way to the semifinals, defeating Long Beach State, Oklahoma State, and Northwestern before falling to Wichita State.
The Cougs opened the 2022 tournament with an impressive 63-50 win over Santa Clara at home at Beasley Coliseum. All-time the Cougs are 7-0 at home in the NIT. On Sunday the Cougs took down 1-seed SMU, 75-63, in Dallas, handing the Mustangs their first loss at home in 2021-22. The win was just the second on the road in the NIT for the Cougs and the first since 1995.
On the road WSU is 2-4 in the NIT. In back-to-back games the Cougs have dominated the glass grabbing NIT game records for rebounds with 44 against Santa Clara and 46 against SMU. Against SMU the Cougs went 23-of-26 from the line - 3rd most FT makes in an NIT game for WSU and the best shooting percentage (88.5%) in the tournament all-time.
BYU AT HOME: With its 19-point victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday, BYU improved to 13-2 in NIT games played at the Marriott Center.The Cougars are 2-1 against Pac 12 opponents at home in the NIT with wins over Washington and Arizona State.
BALM OF GIDEON: Gideon George stole the show on Saturday as he scored a career-high 27 points, the third-most points scored by a Cougar this season. The product of New Mexico Junior College was 10-of-15 from the field including tying a career-high with five 3-pointers. Over the past two games, George is averaging 21.5 points per game, shooting 66.7 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from 3-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line.
