Texas Southern at Washington State 11/25/20 - NCAAB Picks & Predictions

The Texas Southern Tigers open their season with a long trip to Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum to take on the Washington State Cougars. Last season, the Cougars were 16-16 and 6-12 in the Pac-12 but really struggled toward the end of the season losing six of their last eight games before the conference and NCAA tournaments were canceled. Texas Southern finished 16-16 overall as well, but was 12-6 in SWAC which would have given them the third seed. 

Texas Southern had four transfers sitting out last season who are expected to make an immediate impact as well as returning a solid base of last year’s team. Key returners from last year’s squad include Yahuza Rasas who averaged a team-high 8.2 rebounds and added 9.8 points per game as well as Justin Hopkins who averaged 10.5 points per game and added 4.8 rebounds of his own. Both Rasas and Hopkins were named to the preseason All-SWAC first team this season.

In terms of players who have moved on, the Tigers will have to replace the production of Tyrik Armstrong who was a first-team All-SWAC selection and averaged 14.3 points and 4.1 assists per game last season. The strength of this Texas Southern team is its depth with a combination of solid transfers and returning production from players looking to take a step forward.

Washington State is given the difficult task of replacing three starters including CJ Elleby who as a sophomore relinquished his eligibility and entered into the NBA draft before being selected 46th overall by the Portland Trailblazers. Elleby was a first-team All-Pac 12 player and along with the loss of him will replace forward Jeff Pollard (8.7PPG/4.1 RPG) and Jervae Robinson (5.9PPG/1.4 APG).

The Cougars do return senior guard Issac Bonton, the facilitator on offense who has shown flashes of ability to score the ball. Bonton shot 36% from beyond the arc last season on the way to averaging 15.3 points and 4 assists per game but will likely need to shift into a bigger scoring role with the losses of key players. 

Washington State was one of the worst defenses in the Pac-12 last season allowing 69.7 points per game and coming into this season, the Cougars rank 136th in the KenPom adjusted defense and 137th overall. Texas Southern, despite being the preseason favorite to win the SWAC this year comes in with the 239th ranked KenPom adjusted defense and allowed 76 points per game, one of the worst in the nation.