College Basketball Tonight

Eastern Washington at Washington State The Cougars (1-0) open the home portion of their schedule with a 5 p.m. non-conference matchup against the Eagles (0-0) at Friel Court.

At a glance

WSU, a veteran team picked to finish in the upper division of the tough Pacific-10 Conference, catches an Eastern team in a period of transition.

First-year coach Steve Aggers, who replaced John Wade, seems to have sold his players on his style and system. But there are still plenty of bugs to be worked out following the coaching change.

In addition, the Eagles will be without their top returning scorer and rebounder Melvin Lewis, who has been suspended by the university pending an investigation into the validity of credits the 6-foot-8 senior forward earned from taking a correspondence course over the summer.

Lewis’ absence is crippling, especially against an opponent like WSU, which showed plenty of inside muscle in knocking off Gonzaga 72-67 in overtime Friday night.

The Cougars’ big guns are senior forward Mark Hendrickson, a 6-9, 240-pounder who possesses remarkable versatility, and junior guard Isaac Fontaine, who looked unstoppable at times against GU.

Everything points to a blowout, including the history of the series, in which WSU holds a 46-10 edge.

Leaders

Eastern: Kevin Groves, 10.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg last year; D’mitri Rideout, 9.8 ppg. WSU: Mark Hendrickson, 21 ppg, 12 rpg; Isaac Fontaine 17 ppg; Donminic Ellison, 4.0 apg.

TV/Radio

No television. Radio: KSBN (1230 AM) Spokane, KXLY (920 AM) Spokane, KCLX (1450 AM) Colfax, KWSU (1250 AM) Pullman, KCVL (1240 AM) Colville, KZFN (106.0 FM) Moscow, KORD (870 AM) Tri-Cities, KBSN (1470 AM) Moses Lake, KKRT (900 AM) Wenatchee. Pregame: 4:40 p.m.

, DataTimes