It appears Washington State will be shorthanded once again on Sunday.

Mike Ladd’s left knee injury hasn’t yet healed to the point where he’s able to play – or practice – and his status for Sunday’s game at Washington is “very doubtful,” coach Ken Bone said. Ladd hasn’t played since Feb. 9 at UCLA.

Bone has resorted to a decent amount of creativity when it comes to filling in Ladd’s minutes. In Saturday’s loss at Arizona, Bone played two walk-ons, Bryce Leavitt and Dominic Ballard, and freshman Brett Boese, who hadn’t played since Feb. 7, logged eight minutes and scored his first points in Pac-12 play.

Bone said that distribution of playing time is dependent on in-game matchups, though his hand has been forced a bit recently due to Ladd’s absence. But his decision to play Boese for just the third time in a conference game was due to the desire for some outside shooting.

“He’s been doing a good job in practice for a long time and (we gave) him an opportunity to get out there,” Bone said. “And I love the way he played. He went out and played with a tremendous amount of confidence.”

Stitched up

Gonzaga forward Elias Harris suffered a nasty cut on his nose during Monday’s practice and needed stitches to close the wound. Harris practiced Tuesday with a bandage on his nose. He probably won’t require additional protection tonight.

Fluid environment

Walk-on guard Rem Bakamus noticed something different after drawing a drink from the coolers at Gonzaga’s practice Monday.

“You know you’re the No. 2 team in the country when you’ve got Gatorade,” the affable Bakamus said to nobody in particular. For at least one day, the sports drink replaced water.

Untied

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has altered his game-day attire. For years, he sported a tie with few exceptions, but he’s gone tie-free in 35 to 40 percent of games this season.

“Some days I’ll feel it, some days I don’t,” he said. “Usually it’s about an hour before the game when I decide. I’m getting burned out on the tie. I’m not ready to go to Huggy Bear’s deal yet.”

West Virginia’s Bob Huggins often wears a WVU sweat suit and occasionally a pullover jacket.