# 1987–88 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

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.
At the conference tournament's last quarterfinal, WSU upset third seed UCLA by two points. In the semifinal, the Cougars took second-seeded Oregon State to double overtime, but lost by six points.
Sampson was promoted to head coach in April 1987, and led the program for seven seasons.

## Postseason results

| Date time, TV | 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. ||||||