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# Takeaways: Washington State Opens New Season in Losing Fashion vs. Rival Idaho
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/washington-state-cougars-open-new-season-losing-rival-idaho/
- Published: 2025-11-06T19:54:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:17:25.000Z
- Author: Jacob Stevenson
- Tags: Analysis, Adria Rodriguez, Tomas Thrastarson, Emmanuel Ugbo, Ace Glass, Cougars

Opening the 2025-26 season in disappointing fashion against their cross-state rivals, the Washington State Cougars lost a close one by the score of 83-81 to the Idaho Vandals on Monday.

Washington State was down 76-60 with less than six minutes left, but nearly pulled off a stunning comeback, only for Emmanuel Ugbo’s tip at the buzzer to not go and force overtime. The defeat marked the first time the Cougars have lost to the Vandals since 2017.

Here are three takeaways from Wazzu’s slip up in the season opener:

**New season, same defensive struggles**

Last year, Washington State was hampered throughout the season by a subpar defense. In KenPom ratings, Washington State ranked 89th in offense and 198th in defense last year. In the second half of the season, the defense fell off a cliff, ranking 271st after the start of the new year. With several new roster additions aimed at addressing that problem, Washington State placed great emphasis on improving the defense and building a roster with better, more versatile players.

But after the first game, nothing looked changed from the end of last season. Idaho scored 83 points on 115.9 points per 100 possessions against Washington State and shot 29-58 from the field (50%) and 11-28 (39%) percent from three-point range. Washington State struggled to stop dribble penetration and defenders did a poor job of working around screens to get to shooters, allowing for easy shots in the lane as well as from the arc. It’s just one game and things certainly should get better as players gel chemistry-wise, but it was a major disappointment to see the same results to begin a new season.

**Positive Signs From Newcomers**

Ugbo, a transfer from Boise State, couldn’t have played much better in his debut, as he finished with 17 points to go along with eight rebounds. His strength really helped as he was able to play some center after ND Okafor fouled out, and his versatility was impressive, as he was able to bang inside with the fives and guard on the perimeter. Offensively, he made two out of four three points, tying his season high from last year with the Broncos.

Being able to shoot from the perimeter not only helps Ugbo’s individual game, but forces the defense to guard him out on the perimeter, which opens up things for the rest of the offense. Ace Glass was awesome as well. The ex-Texas A&M commit, who decommitted when Buzz Williams left for Maryland, had 17 points along with six rebounds in 22 minutes. Glass was 7-11 from the field and had 15 of his points in the second half. He was able to help the Cougs get back into the game and hit several tough shots in the second half to aid the comeback.

**Mixed Bag For Several Key Contributors**

On the plus side, Tomas Thrastarson had 17 points along with six rebounds. He was very aggressive as a driver, going 11-12 from the free throw line as he drew a ton of fouls going to the basket, and helped fuel Washington State’s furious comeback in the final six minutes.

Unfortunately, Adria Rodriguez, the Spanish guard who played in Spain’s second division last season, struggled to keep players in front of him defensively and didn’t perform well on offense either, scoring just one point with one rebound and three assists while turning the ball over twice. Rodriguez finished 0-2 from the field and 1-4 from the free throw line, enduring a challenging first game with the Cougs.