1986–87 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University for the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fourth-year head coach Len Stevens, the Cougars were members of the Pacific-10 Conference and played their home games on campus at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington.

1986–87 Washington State Cougars men's basketball
ConferencePacific-10
Record10–18 (6–12 Pac-10)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBeasley Coliseum
Seasons
1986–87 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 15 UCLA144 .778257 .781
Arizona135 .7221812 .600
Washington108 .5562015 .571
California108 .5562015 .571
Oregon State108 .5561911 .633
Stanford99 .5001513 .536
Oregon810 .4441614 .533
Arizona State612 .3331117 .393
Washington State612 .3331018 .357
USC414 .222919 .321
1987 Pacific-10 Tournament winner
As of March 25, 1987[1]
Rankings from AP poll

The Cougars were 10–17 overall in the regular season and 6–12 in conference play, tied for eighth in the standings.[2][3][4]

The conference tournament debuted this year;[4][5] seeded ninth, WSU lost to eighth-seed Arizona State by sixteen points in the opening round.[6][7]

A month after the season ended, Stevens resigned in early April to become head coach at Nevada, then a member of the Big Sky Conference;[8][9][10] assistant Kelvin Sampson was soon promoted to head coach,[11][12] and led the program for seven seasons.

Postseason result

Date
time, TV
OpponentResultRecordSite (attendance)
city, state
Pacific-10 Tournament
Thu, March 5
7:00 pm
vs. (8) Arizona State
First round
L 60–76 10–18
Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific time.

References