A few notes to pass along from Beasley Coliseum in rainy Pullman, Washington. The Washington State Cougars and Gonzaga Bulldogs are set to take the court in about 15 minutes and are just finishing warm-ups out on the court. The scoreboard here at Beasley is malfunctioning tonight, meaning we’ll be keeping score by hand. It’s a nice little throwback.
For the Cougars, Faisal Aden appears to be out tonight. The guard went through warmups with his knee wrapped and has yet to return to the court from the locker room. The junior college transfer apparently injured his knee earlier in the week and isn’t full strength.
If Aden can’t go, the Cougs would be missing a big scoring threat on the perimeter, as well as a strong spot-up shooter. Against the Gonzaga zone, Aden figured to be a key coming off the bench. With Reggie Moore back in the starting lineup, Aden was to take-on the sixth man role tonight. Instead, Moore’s minutes likely go up, with ’Dre Winston Jr. and others picking-up spot minutes.
The Cougs and Zags tip-off at 8 p.m. on Fox Sports Northwest.