Washington St. @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2020 ) Washington 67, Washington St. 79

Washington sits last in the Pac-12 standings, but the Huskies could still be a dangerous opponent at next month’s conference tournament. The Huskies head into Friday’s contest against visiting Washington State eager to build on their performance from last Saturday, when they snapped a nine-game losing streak with an 87-52 win over California.

Coach Mike Hopkins remains optimistic about his squad, which boasts two of the top freshmen in the country in Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels but has gone 2-11 since point guard Quade Green was ruled academically ineligible. The 6-9, 250-pound Stewart averages 16.9 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 56.2 percent from the field to lead the Huskies, who won for the first time in 37 days by holding Cal to 11 field goals and 23.9 percent shooting. “It feels good,” guard Nahziah Carter told reporters. “We’re really excited right now, but we’ve got a lot more to do. We never gave up the faith and we still believe that we can do good things.” The Huskies have three regular-season games remaining, starting with Friday’s matchup against a Washington State team that has been outscored by an average of 12.3 points during its current four-game losing streak.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (14-14, 5-10, Pac-12): The Cougars have averaged just 55 points in the past three games without starting point guard and second-leading scorer Isaac Bonton, who has been out due to a hip injury but could return for Friday’s contest. One bright spot has been the play of sophomore guard CJ Elleby, who averages 18.6 points along with 7.7 rebounds and scored a career-high 34 in a 79-67 win over the Huskies on Feb. 9. Freshman guard Noah Williams has averaged 7.7 points since moving in the starting lineup for the Cougars, who are 0-6 on the road in the Pac-12 play.

ABOUT WASHINGTON (13-15, 3-12): Carter scored a game-high 16 points in the win over Cal while McDaniels finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 22 minutes off the bench. The Huskies’ impressive freshman class includes guard Marcus Tsohonis, who made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points against the Bears and has averaged 9.8 points and 2.3 assists in his last six games. Stewart owns the school freshman records for blocks (61) and rebounds (239) but committed five turnovers and was held to 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting in the earlier loss to the Cougars.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Washington is 7-3 against the Cougars in the past 10 games at Alaska Airlines Arena and holds a 185-105 lead in the all-time series.

2. Elleby is seven points shy of reaching the 1,000-point mark for his career.

3. The Huskies are averaging 13.3 takeaways (blocks and steals), which leads the Pac-12.

PREDICTION: Washington 72, Washington State 64