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Preview: Both Cougar hoop teams look to snap lengthy losing streaks Sunday

Josh Hawkinson and Washington State face Utah for the second time this season on Sunday.
Josh Hawkinson and Washington State face Utah for the second time this season on Sunday.

Saddled with losing streaks of 10 games and seven games, respectively, the Washington State men’s and women’s basketball teams both take the court Sunday on the road looking to reverse their downward spirals.

The Cougars men (9-15, 1-11) aim for their first road win of the season (0-6 overall, 0-5 in Pac-12) as they conclude a two-game trip into the Mountain Time Zone by taking on Utah (18-7, 7-5) Sunday at 2 p.m. PT at the Jon Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.Sunday’s game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (color analyst) on the call. Matt Chazanow describes the action on the Washington State IMG Radio Network.

Washington State, which last won on Jan. 3 when they beat UCLA at Beasley Coliseum, fell to the Utes, 92-71, on Jan. 21. The Cougars have lost 12 straight games to Utah in Salt Lake City, and have won just once in 13 tries there.

Josh Hawkinson leads WSU in scoring and rebounding with 16.0 and 11.1 boards per game, while Ike Iroegbu has 14.6 ppg game and tops WSU with 3.7 assists per game. The duo are shooting a combined 53.2 percent (256-for-481) from the field and are accounting for 40 percent of the Cougars’ points this season.

Utah is coming off a 90-82 win at home over Washington on Wednesday in which they shot a season-high 67.3 percent (35-52) from the field and improved to 12-1 at the Huntsman Center this season.

Seniors Brandon Taylor (21 points) and Jordan Loveridge (22) both reached the 20-point plateau and the Utes shot 55 percent from the field in their win at Washington State three weeks ago.

Redshirt junior Que Johnson, senior Brett Boese and sophomore Ny Redding all had huge games in WSU’s heartbreaking double-overtime loss at Colorado Thursday night. Johnson scored a career-high 25 points, Boese was 3-for-4 from 3-point range with 13 points and Redding finished with a solid 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. All three played season-high minutes.

MEN’S PAC-12 SCHEDULE (Sat. Feb. 13-Sun. Feb. 14)

Colorado 81, Washington 80 (2/13)

Stanford 76, Oregon 72 (2/13)

California 83, Oregon State 71 (2/13)

Washington State at Utah, 2 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

USC at Arizona, 5 p.m. (FS1)

UCLA at Arizona State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: After losing 73-61 to nationally ranked UCLA on Friday, the Washington State women’s basketball team (12-12, 3-10 Pac-12) travels across town to face Southern California (17-8, 5-8) Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center.

The Valentine’s Day showdown is slated to tip off at 4 p.m. with coverage on the Pac-12 Networks. Kate Scott and Maylana Douglas have the television call while Steve Grubbs offers play-by-play on the Washington State IMG Sports Network.

The Trojans are led by third-year head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. Earlier this season, the Cougars beat the then-No. 25 Trojans, 73-61, for their first Top 25 win of the season. The Women of Troy are led by a quartet of double-digit scorers, headlined by Temi Fagbenle (13.8 ppg). Jordan Adams (12.8 ppg), Sadie Edwards (12.1 ppg), and Kristen Simon (11.2 ppg) also score in double-digits.

True freshman Borislava Hristova, a native of Varna, Bulgaria, continues to lead the Cougars with 16.9 points per game, second-best in the conference by a freshman and fifth-best overall. Hristova has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times this season.

Hristova has reached double digits in scoring 21 times this season and already holds the WSU freshman record with eight 20-point performances. She is on pace to set school freshman records in total points, points per game, free throw percentage, field goals made, and field goals attempted.

USC is a defensive-minded team, forcing a conference-best 10.4 steals per game with a Pac-12 best +5.4 turnover margin, 11th-best in the country. USC leads the all-time series by a comfortable margin, but the Cougars have won the last four contests against the Trojans.

WOMEN’S PAC-12 SCHEDULE (Sun. Feb. 14)

Washington at UCLA, 11 a.m.

Arizona at California, noon

Utah at Oregon State, 1 p.m.

Washington State at USC, 4 p.m.

Colorado at Oregon, 4 p.m.

Arizona State at Stanford, 6 p.m.

Washington State seeks its first win since Jan. 3
Washington State seeks its first win since Jan. 3 (USA Today Sports)
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