Week ahead
WSU Cougars
Saturday: at Washington, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Outlook: The Pac-10 opener will feature two teams on a roll. The Huskies have won their last five games while the Cougars are undefeated and ranked fourth in the nation. WSU has won five consecutive games in the series, including the last two in Seattle.
Idaho Vandals
Saturday: vs. Boise State, 3:05 p.m., Cowan Spectrum.
Wednesday: vs. Louisiana Tech, 7:05 p.m., Cowan Spectrum
Outlook: The Vandals face perhaps the team that had the best non-conference season when they entertain the Broncos on Saturday. In the middle of BSU’s hot start is 6-9 senior center Matt Nelson, who is averaging 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds. Nelson transferred to BSU two years ago from Eastern Washington University.
EWU Eagles
Tonight: vs. Northern Arizona, 7:05 p.m., Reese Court
Saturday: vs. Sacramento State, 7:05 p.m., Reese Court
Outlook: The Eagles wrap up their six-game homestand with a pair of important Big Sky Conference games. First up is NAU, which features one of the conference’s best inside-outside tandems in senior center Kyle Landry (15.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and junior point guard Josh Wilson (11.3 ppg, 5.64 apg). Sacramento State entered the week having won only two games, but the Hornets have played a brutal non-conference schedule that includes losses at Marquette, Oregon, Stanford and Kansas.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Saturday: vs. Georgia, 5 p.m., Spokane Arena (Fox 28)
Outlook: Georgia (8-3) beat the Zags 96-83 last season, but two players who played prominent roles – Takais Brown and Mike Mercer – have been booted off the team. But head coach Dennis Felton recently told ESPN.com, “We’re as talented as we’ve ever been.” Senior point guard Sundiata Gaines averages 11.8 points, a team-high 5.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Billy Humphrey, who was suspended for one game earlier this season after his arrest for having a pocket knife in his dorm room, leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points and has a team-high 22 3-pointers.Georgia is holding opponents to 39.9 percent shooting.