WSU coach Ken Bone says he likes where the Cougars are emotionally and physically entering the start of Pac-12 play. But he can't be thrilled with the starting point.
WSU will face Arizona tonight (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson and Don MacLean) to open the conference season. They are expected to do so without leading scorer DaVonte Lacy, who had an emergency appendectomy last Saturday.
Then the Cougars play at ASU on Sunday and next week, they won't even get to host Colorado at home -- that game will be in Spokane.
"We only have five of our first six in Pullman, but it is what it is," Bone said. Facing Arizona "is going to be quite a task. We know how good they are. They're extremely well-coached, they play a complete game and are very, very good in every facet. They've got great athletes who play smart basketball. They play together and they're deep."
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All but one game in the Pac-12 will be played in the Mountain Time Zone tonight. The rest of the schedule:
Washington at ASU, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Oregon at Utah, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
California at Stanford, 7 p.m., Fox Sports 1
OSU at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
