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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Scouting the WSU opponent: Colorado

Washington State's rematch with the sharp-shooting Buffaloes takes place today at 7 p.m. in Boulder, Colorado.

The Cougars did a good job limiting star center Josh Scott in their 75-70 loss to the Buffaloes in Pullman, holding one of the Pac-12's best offensive threats to just 11 points by successfully fronting the post and denying him the ball.

WSU was also able to hold one of the country's best outside-shooting teams to 33 percent from behind the arc, and were only outrebounded by four boards, less than half CU's usual margin.

But is all that good news for the Cougars? After all, WSU was able to successfully neutralize three of CU's biggest advantages and still could not beat the Buffaloes at home. To avoid a 10-game losing streak WSU will have to find another way to stymie CU's offense, and they have to do it with a banged-up frontcourt.

Here's what we know about the Buffaloes:

Record: 17-7, 6-5 Pac-12
Points per game: 77
Opponent points per game: 70
Effective field goal percentage: 49.5
3-point percentage: 39.9
Free throw percentage: 72.7
Rebounding margin: +9.2
Steals per game: 4.8
Blocks per game: 5.3

And here are some more detailed statistics, courtesy of KenPom.com.

Adjusted efficiency national rank out of 351 schools (offense/defense): 114/37
Adjusted tempo national rank: 121
Average possession length: 17.1 seconds (No. 158 nationally)
Turnover percentage: 19.5 (No. 255)
Offensive rebound percentage: 35.5 (No. 31)
2-point percentage: 44.4 (No. 316)
Block percentage: 12.2(No. 50)
FT Rate: 42.0 (No. 61)
Opponent FT rate: 33.0 (No. 94)

So who will win? KenPom gives Colorado an 87 percent percent chance of winning and predicts a final margin of 79-67.

Expected starters:
G: Dominique Collier 8.5 ppg, 47.8 3FG%, 78.2 FT%
G: Xavier Talton fourth in all-time games played at CU (125)
G: George King 14.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 47.7 3FG%
F: Wesley Gordon 6.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 48 blocks
C: Josh Scott 17.3 ppg, 9.4 rbg, 43 blocks

 



Jacob Thorpe
Jacob Thorpe joined The Spokesman-Review in 2013. He currently is a reporter for the Sports Desk covering Washington State University athletics.

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