College Basketball Tonight

WSU AT UC IRVINE

The Cougars (6-1) visit the Los Angeles area to take on the Big West Conference Anteaters (3-3) in a non-league tuneup for Pacific-10 Conference play, which open Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.

At a glance

WSU is in search of its fourth consecutive win and would like nothing better than to knock off Irvine and enter Pac-10 play on a roll. To do that, however, the Cougars will have to deal with the absence of leading rebounder Mark Hendrickson, who jammed the little finger on his shooting hand in Wednesday night’s win over San Jose State. Hendrickson has been coach Kevin Eastman’s only inside threat during the early part of the season. Sophomore Carlos Daniel will be asked to pick up a major portion of the slack. Daniel, a 6-foot-7, 230-pounder, is averaging 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds as WSU’s sixth man. In UC Irvine, the Cougars face a dangerous team that opened its season by stunning St. John’s in the championship game of its own tournament. Nonetheless, the Anteaters have struggled since then, dropping three of four games. Two of the defeats were to Oregon State (64-57) and Southern California (82-79) of the Pac-10. Kevin Simmons, a 6-8 sophomore forward is Cal-Irvine’s leading scorer, but point guard Raimond Miglinieks is the heart and soul of coach Rod Baker’s team. Miglinieks, a Latvian, averages almost eight assists per game and is the leading shooter from both the free-throw line and the 3-point stripe. “He is a guy that the NBA scouts are giving some looks,” Eastman said of Miglinieks, a 6-3 senior. “We’re going to have to be careful that he doesn’t go bonkers on penetration.”

Leaders

WSU: Isaac Fontaine, 18.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg; Mark Hendrickson, 17.0 ppg, 9.9 rpg; Donminic Ellison, 14.1 ppg, 5.7 apg. UC Irvine:Kevin Simmons, 18.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg; Brian Keefe, 15.7 ppg; Raimond Miglinieks, 7.8 apg; Michael Tate 7.0 rpg.

TV/Radio

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. 6:30 p.m.

GONZAGA VS. SOUTH ALABAMA

Gonzaga (5-2) takes on the Jaguars (3-3) at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the U.S. West Cellular Classic at the University of Washington. Other teams include Washington (4-2) and Lehigh (2-5). Saturday games are scheduled for 6 and 8 p.m.

At a glance

GU has never played South Alabama. The Jaguars feature a three-forward front line going 6-8, 6-7, 6-7. The backcourt, however, stands 6-5, 6-5. Former NBA and CBA coach Bill Musselman is in his first season. The game should mark the return of Gonzaga’s senior forward Scott Morgan, who played baseball in the Cleveland organization last summer and was not eligible until the end of the first semester. “We hope we’re able to get him some minutes,” coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “He’s in good shape and knows our system. It’s just a matter of him not having been in a game situation since last spring.” UW should be considered favored over Lehigh, with forward Mark Sanford averaging 18 points and guard Bryant Boston averaging 15. Lehigh is another undersized club, with the front line measuring 6-8, 6-6 and 6-6.

Gonzaga: Paul Rogers, 15.1 ppg; Scott Snider, 8.1 rpg; Kyle Dixon, 6.3 apg. South Alabama: Russell McCutcheon, 12.7 ppg; Jason McCutcheon, 7.3 rpg; Brandon Peterson, 6.3 apg.

Radio

KJRB (790 AM) with Dick Wright 15 minutes before tip-off.

, DataTimes