WSU to host OSU in Spokane Arena on Wednesday

PULLMAN – The rivalry with Gonzaga may be on hold, but that alone won’t keep the Washington State basketball team out of Spokane.

The Cougars (8-5, 1-0 Pac-12) will venture to the Spokane Arena for Wednesday’s 8 p.m. game against Oregon State (4-11, 0-2). WSU often plays one game in Spokane to entice local fans who are reluctant to make the 80-mile drive to Pullman.

“We’re playing up in Spokane so that in a bad weather time of year fans do not have to come down the road to us,” WSU head coach Ernie Kent said after Sunday’s win over Washington. “We’re going to bring the show up to them and I’m hoping that people will come across town and come out and see this team.”

WSU’s last home win over the Beavers came in Spokane in 2011-12, when the Cougars hosted both Oregon schools at the Arena, splitting the series. The following year WSU lost a close game to Colorado in the Arena, and in 2014-15 lost to Gonzaga at the Arena, where the teams played as part of an agreement to play two out of three games in the rivalry in Spokane.

The Cougars and Beavers will only play once this season. The teams have met 107 previous times, making it the country’s eighth-oldest continuous college basketball rivalry.