LAS VEGAS – Washington State men’s basketball will compete in the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, Dec. 22-23 at Orleans Arena, it was announced Tuesday.
The Cougars will be joined by Drake, New Mexico State and San Diego as the four teams that will compete in the final rounds at Las Vegas. Each team will play four games in the Classic, as Washington State will host its first two games at Pullman prior to the final rounds.
Past champions of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic include Kansas State (2008), Alabama (2009), New Mexico (2010), Baylor (2011), Colorado State (2012), UNLV (2013), Loyola, IL (2014), SMU (2015), USC (2016), and San Francisco (2017) last season’s Champion.
The Cougars hold a 1-0 advantage over Drake in the all-time meeting with the only matchup having come Dec. 9, 1932. WSU and New Mexico State have never met, while it has a 2-1 record against San Diego, as Washington State defeated the Toreros, 93-56 in the championship game of the 2009 Great Alaska Shootout.
FS1 will televise the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic third-place and championship games on Wednesday, Dec. 23. Hosting more than 200 events each year, the Orleans Arena is located just west of the Las Vegas strip and was recently named the #1 mid-size arena in the USA by Venues Today magazine.
