Following three-straight road games, the men’s basketball team returns to Friel Court to take on Arizona State tonight at 7 p.m. The Cougars (14-7, 4-5) traveled down to Tempe earlier in the season and were demolished by the Sun Devils, 71-46.

ASU is currently third in the Pac-10 standings with a 5-4 record and are 15-7 overall.

The team is led by junior guard-forward Rihards Kuksiks, who leads the team with nearly 13 points per game. Junior guard Ty Abbott has come out strong this season and is averaging more than 11 points per game.

As for WSU, the Cougars are coming off back-to-back road losses, including a 28-point defeat at the University of Washington.

Sophomore guard Klay Thompson struggled immensely in both games, shooting 21 percent from the floor off 7-32 shooting.

However, Thompson said his confidence remains intact, and his stroke is still there.

“I don’t think it ever left,” Thompson said. “I’ve just had an off game the last couple games. It happens, but you just have to learn from it. I can’t lose confidence because it will just carry over to more games.” Although Thompson has had hit shooting woes in conference play, he said he cannot allow one missed shot to affect him so he must continue to fire away.

“It helps (making first shot), but it really doesn’t matter,” Thompson said. “If you want to be a good player, you can’t just play one shot – you have to play every possession. I don’t know any really good players who just let one shot determine how they play the rest of the game, or 4-5 shots they miss. The really good players I’ve played against just keep going at you.” After not starting one game this season, lone senior guard Nikola Koprivica got his shot against the Huskies last week and was impressive by pouring in 13 points, which all came in the first half.

During his tele-conference Tuesday, WSU Head Coach Ken Bone said he was not sure if Koprivica or third-year sophomore Abe Lodwick would get the start but went on to say that both will see plenty of action.

“The reason we made the change was (Koprivica’s) ball-handling skills against a team of Washington’s caliber,” Bone said. “Whether he starts or Abe starts, I think they both will get their normal minutes.” After the showdown with the Sun Devils, WSU will then face Arizona on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

The Wildcats (12-9, 6-3) are led by senior Nic Wise and his 16 points per game. Arizona also has received plenty of help from freshman sensation Derrick Williams, who is averaging 15.9 points per game to go along with 7.3 rebounds.

The Cougars are currently tied for fifth in the conference standings with Washington and Oregon. Thompson said these two home games against the Arizona schools are pivotal as the team’s search for March continues.

“It’s huge to remain in the hunt for postseason play, for our record, and to show our fans that we’re not going to lie down and give up after one bad loss,” Thompson said. “We’re going to show people that we’re ready to compete, and we’ve learned from the first part of the Pac-10 season and try and get off the second part with a good start.”