1987–88 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

1987–88 Washington State Cougars men's basketball
ConferencePacific-10
Record13–16 (7–11 Pac-10)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Dave Harshman
  • Kim Motta
Home arenaBeasley Coliseum
Seasons
1987–88 Pacific-10 Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Arizona † 17 – 1   .944 35 – 3   .921
Oregon State 12 – 6   .667 20 – 11   .645
UCLA 12 – 6   .667 16 – 14   .533
Stanford 11 – 7   .611 21 – 12   .636
Oregon 10 – 8   .556 16 – 14   .533
Washington State 7 – 11   .389 13 – 16   .448
Arizona State 6 – 12   .333 13 – 16   .448
USC 5 – 13   .278 7 – 21   .250
California 5 – 13   .278 9 – 20   .310
Washington 5 – 13   .278 10 – 19   .345
† Conference tournament winner
As of April 15, 1988[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987–88 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University for the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars were members of the Pacific-10 Conference and played their home games on campus at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington.

The Cougars were 12–15 overall in the regular season and 7–11 in conference play, sixth in the standings.[2][3]

At the conference tournament's last quarterfinal, WSU upset third seed UCLA by two points.[4][5][6] In the semifinal, the Cougars took second-seeded Oregon State to double overtime, but lost by six points.[7]

Sampson was promoted to head coach in April 1987,[8][9] and led the program for seven seasons.

Roster

1987–88 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F LaVar Ball 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Jr California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Dave Harshman
  • Kim Motta
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Postseason results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Fri, Nov 27, 1987*
 vs. Eastern Washington W 68–46  1–0
  
 
Sat, Nov 28, 1987*
 vs. Idaho L 49–53  1–1
  
 
Thu, Dec 3, 1987*
 BYU L 54–60  1–2
 Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sat, Dec 5, 1987*
 Fresno State W 61–60  2–2
 Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Fri, Dec 11, 1987*
 vs. Indiana State W 73–61  3–2
  
 
Sat, Dec 12, 1987*
 at No. 6 Indiana
Indiana Classic 		L 56–63  3–3
 Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, Indiana
Sun, Dec 20, 1987
 Arizona State L 65–66  3–4
(0–1) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Tue, Dec 22, 1987
 No. 1 Arizona L 55–89  3–5
(0–2) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sun, Jan 3, 1988*
 at Wisconsin L 65–80  3–6
 Wisconsin Field House (6,205)
Madison, Wisconsin
Sat, Jan 9, 1988
 at Washington W 70–63  4–6
(1–2) 		Hec Edmundson Pavilion 
Seattle, Washington
Thu, Jan 14, 1988
 at California W 59–37  5–6
(2–2) 		Harmon Gym 
Berkeley, California
Sat, Jan 16, 1988
 at Stanford W 70–68  6–6
(3–2) 		Maples Pavilion 
Stanford, California
Thu, Jan 21, 1988
 Oregon L 46–67  6–7
(3–3) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sat, Jan 23, 1988
 Oregon State W 56–49  7–7
(4–3) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Thu, Jan 28, 1988
 at UCLA L 63–88  7–8
(4–4) 		Pauley Pavilion (6,583)
Los Angeles, California
Sat, Jan 30, 1988
 at USC L 60–65  7–9
(4–5) 		Los Angeles Sports Arena 
Los Angeles, California
Tue, Feb 2, 1988*
 Idaho W 56–43  8–9
 Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sat, Feb 6, 1988
 Washington W 61–52  9–9
(5–5) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Mon, Feb 8, 1988*
 Southwestern Louisiana W 60–48  10–9
 Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Thu, Feb 11, 1988
 Stanford L 50–51  10–10
(5–6) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sat, Feb 13, 1988
 California L 76–82  10–11
(5–7) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Thu, Feb 18, 1988
 at Oregon State L 48–62  10–12
(5–8) 		Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, Oregon
Sun, Feb 21, 1988
 at Oregon L 66–73  10–13
(5–9) 		McArthur Court 
Eugene, Oregon
Thu, Feb 25, 1988
 USC W 67–57  11–13
(6–9) 		Friel Court 
Pullman, Washington
Sat, Feb 27, 1988
 UCLA L 55–62  11–14
(6–10) 		Friel Court (5,475)
Pullman, Washington
Thu, Mar 3, 1988
 at No. 3 Arizona L 41–79  11–15
(6–11) 		McKale Center 
Tucson, Arizona
Sun, Mar 6, 1988
 at Arizona State W 70–66  12–15
(7–11) 		ASU Activity Center 
Tempe, Arizona
Pacific-10 Tournament
Fri, March 11, 1988
9:00 pm, ESPN 		vs. (3) UCLA
Quarterfinal 		W 73–71  13–15
 McKale Center (13,061)
Tucson, Arizona
Sat, March 12, 1988
3:00 pm 		vs. (2) Oregon State
Semifinal 		L 68–74 2OT 13–16
 McKale Center (13,549)
Tucson, Arizona
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific time.

References

  1. ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  2. ^ "WSU gives Arizona St. short end". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). March 7, 1988. p. C1.
  3. ^ "WSU earns third shot at UCLA". Idahonian. (Moscow). March 7, 1988.
  4. ^ Bergum, Steve (March 12, 1988). "WSU upsets UCLA, meets Oregon State". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.
  5. ^ "Cougs edge the Bruins at tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 12, 1988. p. 5B.
  6. ^ "Cougars surprise UCLA". Idahonian. (Moscow). March 12, 1988. p. 1D.
  7. ^ Rosenburg, Kurt (March 13, 1988). "Beavers convinced win spells N-C-A-A". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  8. ^ "Sampson accepts Cougar challenge". Idahonian. (Moscow). April 10, 1987. p. 1.
  9. ^ Bergum, Steve (April 11, 1987). "Sampson christens a new era at WSU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.