UA News

This weekend's home stand features games against Washington State marksman Klay Thompson and the nationally ranked Washington Huskies.

The Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team hosts Washington State on Friday at 6:30 p.m., the first of two games this weekend at McKale Center and the first game in Tucson against a Pac-10 opponent this season.

The game will be carried live on TV by KGUN-Ch. 9 and FS Arizona, and on radio on the IMG College/Wildcat Radio Network.

The Cougars come in 11-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They also have one of the most explosive scorers in the country in Klay Thompson. The sophomore forward is averaging more than 24 points a game. DeAngelo Casto leads WSU in rebounding with 7.4 boards per game.

The UA leads the series against Washington State 51-14, although the Cougars won the last matchup, 69-53 last February in Pullman, Wash., with four WSU players scoring in double figures.

The Wildcats are and are 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the conference after a win last weekend at UCLA. The Cats led nearly the entire-game with sophomore guard Kyle Fogg scoring a career high 25 points against the Bruins. Jamelle Horne and Derrick Williams followed with 17 and 16 points respectively.

Fogg has scored in double figures five times this season, hitting better than 51 percent of his shots, including a conference-leading 54.5 percent from three-point range.

The win against UCLA in Pauley Pavillion also was notable because it came without a heroic effort from senior Nic Wise, who still managed eight points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals. Wise continues to lead the team with 15 points and four assists per game.

Wise also was named on Tuesday as a finalist for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Twenty NCAA Division I student-athletes are vying for the honor. Wise is one of two Pac-10 players on the list.

The list will be pared down to 10 on Feb. 1 before the final five candidates are announced on March 1. The winner will be announced on Monday, April 5, as part of the Final Four festivities in Indianapolis.

The UA also will host 24th-ranked Washington on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. MST and will be televised by KWBA-TV and FS Arizona.