Cougs looking for an Arizona sweep

Two days after shocking just about everybody and taking a commanding 21-point win over the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, your Washington State Cougars will try and make it an Arizona sweep as they take on the Arizona Wildcats this afternoon.

Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. PST. You can catch the game the Pac-12 Networks.

Things are not well in Tucson. The Wildcats have lost four in a row, including an overtime loss to their rivals last week, and are in the news more for their off-court troubles. The school is about to fire assistant coach Mark Phelps. Unrelated to that is the fact that the Wildcats—and specifically head coach Sean Miller—are expected to be main characters at the impending trial of Christian Dawkins, leading some to wonder if Miller himself is next on the chopping block.

Oh, and they’re 14-9 overall and just 5-5 in conference play, good for sixth in the Pac-12.

Of course, Washington State is 9-14 overall and 2-8 in conference play, so today is clearly an opportunity for Wildcats to get back on the saddle. Today’s game isn’t the “gimme” it once was, though.

The Cougs, as you know, are feeling pretty good after their dominating win over Arizona State. Still, the Cougs are a big underdog. We know WSU can score, but defending is a different monster (Thursday notwithstanding). WSU is giving up 82 points per game in conference play, and that includes giving up just 59 to Cal back on Jan. 17.

The Wildcats are no. 69 in KenPom’s rankings. WSU is now a top-200 team, checking in at no. 199.

As Jeff said yesterday, basketball is a funny game. The odds say WSU loses this one as Arizona cruises. Of course, that’s what the odds said on Thursday and we all know what happened then.

Go Cougs.

Brody Brown

Brody Brown, the son of football strength coach Tyson Brown, has been undergoing cancer treatments for more than three years. Here’s his story.

Well, yesterday was quite the milestone for the little one, and his Cougar football family members celebrated:

Basketball

Cougs have claws after blasting ASU, and Wildcats' 'gimme' game has gone away | Arizona Wildcats basketball | tucson.com
Wildcats have lost four straight, while Wazzu is coming off its biggest road win in years.

WSU hoops recruiting: Cougs focusing on 7 footers for final slot | CougFan.com
Kent and staff focusing on JC bigs, including national leader in blocked shots.

College hoops: UCLA headlines coaching carousel | Yahoo! Sports
There are some possible Ernie Kent replacements deep in this article.

Football

Friday Five: College football coaches on the hot seat entering the 2019 season - CBSSports.com
These coaches need to win or improve in 2019 to expect to keep their jobs.

Baseball

Baseball has some new threads this season. Yea or nay?

Cougar Country

Geez, talk about a roller coaster of emotions. At one point yesterday afternoon, rumors started swirling on Twitter that Pullman landmark Cougar Country Drive-In was closing. As Twitter rumors go, you either believed it right away or waited for some confirmation, just in case some #FakeNews crept into Pullman.

Later, news reports said it could close. Then last night, KXLY talked to the owner, who said while it wasn’t closing, she’s been having trouble paying the employees. Apparently a big tax payment and some alleged theft are the reasons, although if you’re going to allege theft, you should probably alert the police, which she hasn’t yet, according to that KXLY story.

So, your guess is as good as mine. It’s clear the owner has some serious issues to deal with financially, so stay tuned.