In matchup with Boise State in Spokane, WSU has a chance to gauge itself

PULLMAN – Myles Rice swears the extra travel had no effect on his outing over the weekend. He hit four 3-pointers for 12 points in his Washington State team’s loss to Santa Clara in Phoenix, a promising outing in an otherwise dreary setback for the Cougars.

Just wait until you understand Rice’s week leading up to the game.

He’s in remission from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which means he has to return to his hometown of Atlanta for check-ins every few months. One appointment fell last Thursday – two days before the game. He took a red eye from Spokane to Atlanta, arriving early Thursday morning.

That day, he went to his appointment, where he had blood drawn in a successful checkup. On Friday morning, he flew to Phoenix, where he met the team. A day later, Rice and the Cougars took the court at Footprint Arena, where their six-game winning streak came to an end.

Rice hit an early 3-pointer. Then, because of foul trouble, he was in and out of the lineup as Santa Clara widened its lead. Rice returned late, helping the Cougars draw within four, but it wasn’t enough.

“Yeah,” Rice said, acknowledging the extra travel does sound tiring, “but I just tried to be mentally strong through that and not let it play a factor into the game. Being able to play through those things, you just gotta be mentally tough.”

Ahead of its showdown with Boise State at the Arena on Thursday night, the good news for Washington State is that Rice will be with the team this time – all the way from Pullman to the arena.

That can only mean good things for the Cougars, who will be playing their final nonconference game of the year.

They get the Broncos, who rank No. 76 in the NCAA NET rankings, a team off to an 8-3 start with wins over VCU and Saint Mary’s . Trying to build off an NCAA Tournament appearance last season, Boise State returns three starters.

The leader is 6-foot-7 wing Chibuzo Agbo, who averages 16.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, shooting 46% on six 3-pointers per game. Around him is Spokane native Tyson Degenhart, who averages 15.3 points and 4.9 rebounds, plus senior guard Max Rice, who is scoring 11.3 points a game.

The Broncos are off to a nice start to the season, as are the Cougars. For WSU, though, this is when things get a little tougher.

KenPom has assigned the Cougars’ strength of schedule a rating of 100, which ranks No. 343 nationally – out of 362 Division-I teams. WSU’s best win of the year, according to KenPom, came over Portland State, which checks in at No. 150 in the national rankings.

Otherwise, the Cougars’ wins have come over these foes, with these rankings …

• No. 309 Idaho

• No. 283 Prairie View A&M

• No. 217 Rhode Island

• No. 260 Utah Tech

• No. 186 Eastern Washington

• No. 253 UC Riverside

• No. 319 Grambling State

Those results have matched the eye test, too. The Cougars looked like the far better team in all those games – a compliment, to be sure, but also a statement about the quality of the teams they’ve beaten.

“They’re just mature and seasoned and playing in the postseason,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said of Boise State. “They’ve got a new point guard but I mean, just having Degenhart and Rice, and Agbo – those three have been in the tournament. They know what they’re doing. And then you add a couple of nice talented centers, so they’re good.”

“You never know when you watch on film,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said of WSU. “I could probably answer this question a lot better after the game. Kyle (Smith) does a tremendous job. He had a big roster changeover this year and they’ve looked terrific. He just does such a good job coaching. They’re so well schooled and they’re playing hard and they’re playing together. All the things you want and it’s hard to get to with a group of new guys.”

For the Cougars, it’s also a chance to gauge how they fare as they form their identity and teams begin to decide how to guard them. With nine newcomers, they’ve spent their first 10 games settling on rotations, meaning opponents haven’t had much film to study – and WSU may have benefited.

But now Washington State has shown its hand. Rice is the Cougars’ best scorer. Isaac Jones is their best post player. Oscar Cluff has blossomed into a solid big and transfer Jaylen Wells has become a hot hand from beyond the arc, a critical way for WSU to space the floor with so much size.

In that way, this also represents a chance for the Cougars to prove their mettle, to show they can score the way they want – primarily at the rim – even as opponents develop a reliable scouting report. Do that in a win and it’s hard to imagine a better start to Pac-12 play for WSU.

“It’s definitely a game that we need to win, 100%,” Rice said. “But we treat everybody the same no matter what their ranking is. We have the same saying, ‘Respect everyone, fear no one.’ And we take that mindset in every game. So just keeping that mindset against Boise State, and sticking to the scout and the game plan and just coming out with a dub.”