The Cougars will face the other UW-initialed basketball team in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitation.
The WSU men’s basketball team will compete against the University of Wyoming Cowboys. Tip-off is set for Monday at 7 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.
The Cougars advance after an 89-75 opening round victory against the University of San Francisco. WSU improves their season record to 16-16. The game featured junior forward Brock Motum scoring 24 points for WSU. Junior guard Reggie Moore, senior guard Marcus Capers and redshirt senior forward and guard Abe Lodwick joined Motum in double figures for the game.
Wyoming is fresh off their first postseason win since 2003. The Cowboys faced North Dakota State University in the opening round of the tournament. Wyoming secured their victory in the final minutes of play.
WSU and Wyoming have met five times in the history of their programs. The Cowboys have a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the first ball games occurred in the 1940s. Wyoming beat WSU 49-47 in 2004 and the Cougars beat the Cowboys 63-47 in 2005 in their two most recent match-ups. The last meeting took place in Pullman. WSU is 10-3 in home games played this season and 5-0 in non-conference home games.
The Wyoming players to watch out for include redshirt junior forward Leonard Washington, who has made double-doubles in four of the five previous games. He averages 12.9 points and seven rebounds each game. Two other players to watch for are senior guard Francisco Cruz and redshirt junior guard Luke Martinez. Cruz ranks third in the Mountain West Conference with a 49.2 shooting percentage. Martinez leads the conference with 2.6 three-point shots per game. Martinez also ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 1.7 steals per game.
The College Basketball Invitational is a single elimination tournament until the Championship Series. All games are played at various college campuses. The Championship Series is a best of three series. The event features eight first round games, four quarterfinal round games, a semifinal round and then the Championship Series.
The winner of Monday’s match in Beasley will potentially face the winner of one of the following games: TCU v. Oregon State, Butler v. Pennsylvania or Princeton v. Pittsburgh.
