The Washington State Cougars opened up the 2023-24 season with a victory over their longtime rival Idaho Vandals, 84-59.
In the 188th men’s basketball version of the Battle of the Palouse, WSU (1-0) ultimately controlled the game wire-to-wire. Idaho (0-1) made runs but could never pull within single digits after the 10:24 mark in the first half. The longest tenured Coug, Andrej Jakimovski, led the way with 21 points, one shy of his career high.
The leading scorer fittingly scored the first bucket of the season to get things going. Rueben Chinyelu put in his first bucket as a Coug and Myles Rice also tacked on his first bucket, one that had to feel way more than the two points it added to the scoreboard.