The time is right for the Huskies to be playing WSU. The Cougars have hit the late season swoon that many thought they'd experience, dropping 6 of their last 8 games. The play quality decrease has come due to their lack of depth and the fact that the players are all adjusting to a new, faster style of play and it often takes a full year or two for the legs to adjust to that. Look no further than Klay Thompson for the evidence: he was spoken of very highly when the Cougs ran through their especially weak nonconference schedule, but has shot just 2/21 in his last two games. In the first UW/WSU matchup Thompson scored just 7 points on a horrid 2/15 shooting night. In his career he has yet to beat, or even score in double figures against the Huskies.
Conversely, the Huskies are coming off of one of their best games of the season after turning the UCLA court time into layup and dunk practice.
The key to beating the Cougars again will be the defense. The Huskies are capable of shutting WSU down with guys like Justin Holiday and Venoy Overton leading the charge, which is something that the Cougars simply have no equIvalent to. Marcus Capers can man Isaiah Thomas and his length gives IT a bit of trouble, but the have no answer for Quincy Pondexter (though they're not alone there). If Matthew Bryan-Amaning continues his hot streak, DeAngelo Casto will be overmatched, as MBA is much stronger and can shoot the baby hook over Casto, whose defensive value comes primarily as a weakside shot blocker moreso than a lockdown man defender.
Plus, UW will throw waves of players at WSU and stay fresh, while WSU's bench gets thin quite quickly.
It's senior night in Pullman, though it shouldn't be much of a factor as the Cougars' lone senior, Nikola Koprivika, is a nice player (and he's really impressed me with his improvement from last season), but isn't exactly the kind of player who can take over a game from start to finish.