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WSU Men's Basketball

Pac-12 finalizes dates for men’s basketball schedule; tipoff time for Washington State’s opener changes

Washington State guard Isaac Bonton (10) passes the ball to Washington State forward Jeff Pollard (13) during the second half of a college basketball game, Sat., Jan. 18, 2020, in Pullman, Wash.   (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Immediate and long-term scheduling news for Washington State’s men’s basketball team came out Tuesday, one day before the Cougars’ season opener.

The tipoff time for WSU’s opener against Texas Southern on Wednesday was moved to 8 p.m. due to an opening in the Pac-12 Network national television schedule.

Previously, the game was scheduled to start at 6 and was only available on the Pac-12 Washington channel.

The Pac-12 Conference, which previously announced pairings for the 2020-21 season, also nailed down official dates for the final 18 games. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, all dates are subject to change and the conference is working on its television schedule.

The Cougars, who play two initial Pac-12 games against Oregon State at home (Dec. 2) and Colorado on the road (Dec. 5), will begin the Pac-12 season in earnest on Dec. 31.

WSU will open with two home games, against Arizona State (Dec. 31) and Arizona (Jan. 2), before going on the road for the next four and beginning a stretch that will see the Cougars play eight of 10 games away from Beasley Coliseum.

The first road games will take place at Cal (Jan. 7) and Stanford (Jan. 9) before another pair of games in California the following week – at UCLA (Jan. 14) and at USC (Jan. 16).

The Cougars will return home for two games, against Utah (Jan. 21) and Colorado (Jan. 23), before playing three consecutive road games in the Pacific Northwest.

WSU is set to visit Washington (Jan. 27) before traveling to Oregon a week later for games against Oregon (Feb. 4) and Oregon State (Feb. 6).

With road games consuming the front half of the schedule, the back half sets up nicely for the Cougars, who host UCLA (Feb. 11), USC (Feb. 13), Cal (Feb. 18) and Stanford (Feb. 21) before visiting Arizona (Feb. 26) and Arizona State (Feb. 27) for their final two road games.

The regular season concludes for WSU with a showdown in Pullman against Washington (March 6).

The Pac-12 is planning to hold its conference tournament March 10-13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.