WSU men basketball: Cougs Come Home to Take on UC Riverside Sunday from WSU Sports Info
WASHINGTON STATE (5-4)
vs UC Riverside (7-3) | Sun., Dec. 15 | 1:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Statbroadcast.com
Watch | Pac-12 Network (Greg Heister & Elise Woodward)Listen | WSU IMG Radio Network (Matt Chazanow & Craig Ehlo)
OPENING FIVE
> The Cougs enter the week back above .500 at 5-4 after winning back-to-back
games for the first time this season. The Cougs defeated Idaho, 78-65, and New
Mexico State, 63-54, last week after returning to the Palouse.
> WSU is set to play its final four non-conference games at Beasley
beginning with UC Riverside Sunday. The two sides have not met since 2011 in
Anaheim.
> CJ Elleby, named to the Julius Erving and Wooden Award watch
lists ranks 3rd in the Pac-12 in scoring at 20.1 ppg and has scored in
double-figures in all 9 games on the year.
> Tony Miller has emerged as WSU's super-sub after scoring
18 at Idaho and adding nine vs NMSU. In three games, Miller is averaging 12.3
points on 82.4% (14-of-17) shooting in 16.2 minutes per game. He has grabbed
4.0 rebounds and a team-best 1.7 steals on the defensive end.
GAME INFORMATION - VS UC RIVERSIDE
LAST TIME OUT
With 11 minutes left in the game and his team clinging to a 2-point lead, Washington State's CJ Elleby turned to his teammates on the floor and said '''This is our game.'' He was right. Elleby scored 20 points as Washington State hung on to beat New Mexico State 63-54 on Saturday at the Spokane Arena. Cougs put together a defensive effort that held New Mexico State to 34% shooting and forced them into 17 turnovers.
ELLEBY ELECTRIC
In addition to his scoring prowess, Elleby leads the team in rebounding at 6.2 rpg as well as defensively with 1.9 steals per game.
He has his sights set on becoming the newest member of the 1,000 pt club with 652 career points. He needs 348 points to reach the plateau. On his current scoring pace this season he can hit 1,000 points
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WSU men basketball: Battle of the 7-footers on Sunday?
By Jamey Vinnick Dec 10, 5:05 PM Cougfan.com
PULLMAN – Cougar basketball fans are likely to get an extended look at 7-1 center Volodymyr Markovetskyy. Washington State head man Kyle Smith on Tuesday in his weekly presser said he really wants to get Markovetskyy and Ryan Rapp more minutes before conference play begins Jan. 2 vs. USC, and Markovetskyy in particular would make a lot of sense given WSU's next opponent.
It sounds like there’s a good possibility fans see a healthy dose of Markovetskyy Sunday when the Cougars host UC Riverside (1:30 pm, Pac-12 Network). The Highlanders have their own 7-1 big man, Callum McRae, and Smith noted that much of Riverside’s offense runs through him.
Riverside is 7-3 on the season -- including a dominating victory over the same Nebraska team that defeated WSU 82-71 this season.
"Vova" has played in five of nine games this season, averaging 7.4 minutes in those contests. He's shot 7-of-12 for the season from the floor, but only 1-of-6 from the free throw line. On the boards, Markovetskyy has 16 rebounds -- 11 of them on the offensive end.
SMITH SAID HE'S encouraging C.J. Elleby to attack the rim more rather than settle for jump shots. Elleby is a terrific scorer, but he’s most efficient around the rim, something that was on full display Saturday in the win over New Mexico State. The sophomore practically lived at the charity stripe after getting fouled on drives to the basket, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the game from the line.
Smith also talked about how Tony Miller and others have impacted the rotations. He added that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have multiple options, specifically when it comes to the other guard spot opposite point man Jaylen Shead and whether it’ll be Jervae Robinson or Isaac Bonton getting the nod.
Meanwhile, the Cougs are slowly returning to full health. Shead is still nursing a nagging injury and Bonton is still battling the bug that’s hampered him the last week or so.
Coming off the win over New Mexico State that raised WSU’s record to 5-4, Smith wants the Cougars this week to focus on the little things that aren’t so little.
“Try to get back to basics a little bit -- I thought we obviously played well against New Mexico State in the sense that the last two games actually defensively being our mantra or at least trying to get there. Not deviating from that, but I also think we’ve been playing better offensively. We’ve turned it over more than we have but I think that’s the byproduct of trying to play the right way and playing with more purpose,” said Smith.
NOTABLE NOTE:
With it being finals week in Pullman, WSU has just the Sunday game against UC Riverside this week.
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WSU football
In second NFL season, ex-Washington State star Hercules Mata’afa still trying to outplay his size
By Theo Lawson of the Spokesman of Spokane/Inland Empire 12/.11.2019
SEATTLE – Hercules Mata’afa’s team bio still doesn’t reflect the biggest change the defensive tackle has made since clamping down a place on Minnesota’s 53-man roster in late August.
It’s hard enough for Mata’afa to convince people he actually weighs 275 pounds, so it certainly doesn’t help when the Vikings’ official website lists him at 254, shorting him 21 pounds.
“A lot of people, when they look at me, they don’t think I’m 275,” the second-year NFL player and former Washington State standout said last Monday at CenturyLink Field after Minnesota’s 37-30 loss to Seattle. “They look at me and they’re like, ‘You look like you’re 230.’ I’m like, ‘No I’m 275.’ So I pack on weight different from a lot of guys, so it’s always going to look like I’m undersized, I feel like.”
Fewer than two full seasons into his professional career, Mata’afa is still fighting a stereotype that some thought would preclude him from playing in the NFL at all. The former All-Pac-12 defensive tackle outplayed his lack of size throughout his career with the Cougars. While Minnesota and 31 other NFL teams weren’t sold on Mata’afa as a draft pick, the Vikings pounced once the free-agent market opened, then kept him in the Twin Cities even after spending his rookie season on the injured reserve, healing a torn ACL.
“I think it took a lot for the team to bring me back and keep me on IR, for me to be able to show my skill set for this year,” Mata’afa said. “I just keep on continuing to grind and continue to get better and trying to be out there to help this team in every single day.”
Mata’afa’s NFL career is still a work in progress. The ex-Cougar is still at war with the weight scale – up 35 pounds from where he finished at Washington State, but still not where Minnesota coaches and trainers want him to be.
“It’s always been hard for me to gain weight, so I put on a pretty good, decent amount of weight for myself, that I never knew I would be able to get at,” Mata’afa said. “But just continue to learn about nutrition and what to put in my body. That’s what I’ve been doing, is just studying everything about how to be a better player.”
Between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner, Mata’afa tries to increase his caloric intake by cramming in as many snacks as he can. It’s not easy to maintain dietary patterns throughout the regular season.
“It’s been working for me,” Mata’afa said, “I’ve been maintaining the weight, especially during the season, which is pretty hard.”
The Vikings have kept Mata’afa on the inactive list seven times this season (of 11 total games). It’s unclear when he’ll be called upon next to help a team that holds the fifth-best record in the NFC at 9-4 and sits one game below Green Bay in the North Division. He’s on scout team duty, ensuring Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs and Minnesota’s other offensive stars get a proper look during game-week practices.
“That’s what they’re asking me right now,” Mata’afa said, “so I’m just doing the job at hand.”
Mata’afa, if he does have his name called this season or next, will presumably be used in passing situations, but the defensive tackle said he still needs to continue to work on his run defense.
“I think it’s gotten way better from when I first got here,” he said.
Mata’afa, who said “everything around my world revolves around football now,” is able to spend much more time in the film room these days. His sheer knowledge of the game has grown exponentially since he left college two years ago.
The Lahaina, Hawaii, native rejoiced with family members when the Vikings informed him they’d be retaining him despite the season-ending ACL injury last season.
“First person I called was my mom and dad,” he said. “Let them know I made the roster, made the team. It was kind of a euphoria moment for me and my family. They know how hard I’ve worked the last two years to be able to be on this team. This is probably one of the hardest teams to get onto, considering our defense and the dudes on this defense.”
Mata’afa got a small sample of the NFL in the preseason when he recorded his first sack in a Minnesota uniform, driving New Orleans Saints center Will Clapp back about 5 yards before wrestling quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the turf. Mata’afa made his first and only NFL tackle in a Week 2 loss to the Packers.
He was inactive in his first return to the Evergreen State as a pro, but Mata’afa still made the most of the trip, meeting up with former WSU equipment manager Trevor Neal and dining with ex-WSU teammate Ivan McLennon at the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle the night before the game.
Mata’afa said he’s followed the Cougars this season, mostly through live scoring applications because he doesn’t have a cable package in Minnesota and Pac-12 games often start after 8 or 9 p.m. in the Central time zone. Mata’afa was following WSU’s game against UCLA, but he fell asleep when the Cougars took a three-touchdown lead and woke up the next morning to find out about the Bruins’ historic comeback.
“It was a tough year for us, but we’re bowl eligible again. We just keep continuing to expand our winning culture, I guess,” Mata’afa said.
The former Associated Press Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year has kept in touch with WSU linebacker Jahad Woods – “I could see him playing at this level someday, too,” Mata’afa said – and had a message for his ex-teammates as they prepare to play Air Force in the Cheez-It Bowl.
“Just take every bowl game as best as you can and enjoy the teammates you have around you, because you’re not going to have that unity as much as you had in college as you have in the NFL,” Mata’afa said. “Just don’t take any moment for granted. Just go out there and win the day.”
Not too different than what Mata’afa’s striving to do in the NFL.
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WSU football: Three-star offensive line prospect from Utah commits to Washington State
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R 12/10/2019
Almost one week before national signing day, Mason Miller and Washington State apparently have added another piece to their offensive line, receiving a commitment from Utah offensive tackle Rodrick Tialavea.
Cougfan.com’s Braulio Perez was the first to report on Tialavea’s decision, which gives the Cougars their 20th hard commit in the class of 2020 and their fifth offensive line pledge. Tialavea, who took an official visit to Pullman last weekend, later announced his commitment on Twitter.
At 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, the Utah native projects as an offensive tackle, the position he played for Highland High School in Salt Lake City. Tialavea had five offers, but four of those came from Power Five programs. In addition to WSU, the big offensive lineman also received offers from Arizona, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah State.
The Cougars bring back a handful of offensive linemen next season, but they’ll be losing two starters with center Fred Mauigoa and left guard Robert Valencia both graduating. Christian Haangana’s dismissal from the team also left an open scholarship on the offensive line.
In addition to Tialavea, WSU has received commitments from Julian Ripley (Rancho Cucamonga, California), Dylan Mayginnes (Chandler, Arizona), Devin Kylany (Lake Stevens, Washington) and James McNorton (Brentwood, California).
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WSU calendar dates to know between now and Cheez-It Bowl
COUGFANcom 12/11/2019
THE CHEEZ-IT BOWL schedule calls for Washington State to hold three practices in Phoenix before the bowl game. With three WSU bowl practices already in the books, and final exams week ending shortly, how many practice sessions will WSU get in before the 2019 Cougar football season comes to a close on Dec. 27?
WSU hasn’t put out a practice schedule yet, and it’s unknown how many days the players might have off, (last year, for example, the Cougs had two days off during the Dec. 17-22 time frame).
If the Cougs start up practices again on Friday, there would be 10 practice days available in Pullman before the team leaves for the Cheez-It Bowl. Our guess, based on past history, is WSU will utilize 6-7 of those days for practice before its travel day on Dec. 23.
With the three sessions in Phoenix, that would make for 12 or 13 bowl practices total.
Here are some dates to know from now until the Cheez-It Bowl kicks off at Chase Field:
Dec. 12: Lou Groza Award winner announced. Coug walk-on kicker Blake Mazza, first-team All-Pac-12, is one of three finalists.
Dec. 13: Finals week ends at WSU.
Dec. 13: Final official visit weekend of 2019 begins.
Dec. 14: Contact period’s final day, last day for coaches to visit recruits face to face off WSU’s campus, (in-homes, high schools, etc.)
Dec. 15: WSU vs. UC Riverside in basketball, 1:30 pm in Beasley, (TV: Pac-12 Network).
Dec. 15: Quiet period in recruiting, (face to face contact allowed on WSU campus, phone calls and correspondence still allowed).
Dec. 16: Dead period in recruiting begins and runs through Jan. 16, (phone calls and correspondence still allowed).
Dec. 18: Signing Day. The early signing period runs through Dec. 20.
Dec. 18: Cheez-It Bowl field install at Chase.
Dec. 19: WSU vs. Florida A&M, 7:30 pm in Beasley, (TV: Pac-12 Network).
Dec. 20-21: Cheez-It Bowl field painting at Chase.
Dec. 21: WSU vs. Incarnate Word, 4 pm in Beasley, (TV: Pac-12 Network).
Dec. 23: WSU flies to Phoenix for the Cheez-It Bowl.
Dec. 24: WSU practice.
Dec. 25: Fat guy in a chimney; WSU practice.
Dec. 26: WSU practice; Cheez-It Bowl Media Day.
Dec. 27: WSU vs. Air Force. Cheez-It Bowl Game at Chase Field, 7:15 pm, ESPN.
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Ryan Leaf will call WSU's Cheez-It Bowl for ESPN
By Barry Bolton Cougfan.com
RYAN LEAF WILL make his ESPN bowl debut by calling his alma mater, Washington State, in the matchup vs. Air Force in the Cheez-It Bowl on Dec. 27.
Leaf will team with play-by-play man Clay Matvick and sideline reporter Cole Cubelic.
Leaf and Co. will also call the New Mexico Bowl, between Central Michigan and San Diego State, on Dec. 21.
The former Cougar QB star was at long last inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame this fall. He is in his first season as a college football analyst for ESPN. The previous year in 2018, Leaf was a studio analyst on the Pac-12 Network. He also co-hosts a show on SiriusXM. Leaf led the Cougars to the 1998 Rose Bowl and a No. 9 final ranking. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1997.
Related: The lifelong love of WSU on clear display at Hall of Fame dinner
THE MEDIA IS in agreement: the Washington State-Air Force matchup in the Cheez-It Bowl falls into the “must see” category. One site even ranks it in its top 5.
College Football News ranks the Cheez-It as fifth-best bowl. That’s higher than it has two NY6 bowls, the Sugar and Cotton.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, ranks the Cheez-It in its top 10, at No. 9, and like CFN also deems it the second-best Pac-12 bowl to watch after the Rose Bowl.
"What a delightful clash of contrasts. Air Force (10-2) ranks third in the country in rushing offense, while Washington State leads the nation in passing. Both teams have quirky coaches (the Falcons’ Troy Calhoun and the Cougars’ Mike Leach), and last year’s edition of this game was a glorious absurdity, with Cal and TCU combining for nine interceptions in the Horned Frogs’ 10-7 overtime win. It’s all enough to help you ignore Wazzu’s 6-6 record," writes Patrick Stevens.
Athlon ranks the WSU-Air Force matchup 12th in its bowl rankings, with Sporting News and Yahoo both both rating it 14th on their lists, pointing to a “wonderful” and “really fun” contrast in styles, respectively.
Athlon's Steven Lassan, by the way, predicts a 38-34 win for Washington State.
ESPN senior college football writer Adam Rittenberg , however, sees a 37-31 win for Air Force.
TWO INTERESTING ITEMS of note on Air Force, from ESPN:
Key player: QB Donald Hammond III. The junior from Georgia distributes the ball perfectly in Air Force's attack, and about four times per game, he hits a deep ball. This offense is dynamite under his command.
Storyline to watch: Seven of the past eight Air Force seasons have produced either 10 wins or a losing record. All or nothing! But a bowl win would provide something new: the first 11-win season of Troy Calhoun's tenure.
NOTABLE: ESPN's Pat McAfee, a former NFL punter with Indianapolis, will attempt to punt footballs into a giant bowl of Cheez-Its as part of the festivities. For every punt McAfee makes, Cheez-It will donate to Vet Tix, or the Veteran Tickets Foundation.
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