Saturday’s game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, 6 PM PT
PULLMAN, Washington -- Washington State University men’s basketball (3-0) will continue its season-opening homestand as it hosts Texas Southern (1-4), Saturday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
• Saturday’s game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks as Greg Heister (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (color analyst) have the call.
• Matt Chazanow, in his first season with Cougar basketball, will have the call on the Washington State IMG Radio Network...please see the list of affiliates on page one of today’s notes.
• Live updates can be found on Twitter by following @WSUMensHoops, the official Twitter account of Washington State men’s basketball.
COUGARS VERSUS TIGERS:
• Saturday marks the second all-time meeting between Washington State and Texas Southern, as WSU holds a 1-0 lead in the series after winning the lone meeting, 88-75, Dec. 9, 1989 at Moscow, Idaho for the Palouse Classic.
• Texas Southern is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and is one of 10 in the league.
• WSU has previously faced nine of the 10 SWAC schools, and has not lost at 18-0 all-time against the league.
• Two seasons ago WSU faced Mississippi Valley State, Dec. 28, 2013, coming out victorious by a score of 85-48.
• Since the 2010-11 season, the Cougars have taken on four other SWAC schools, including Arkansas Pine Bluff (2012), Jackson State (2012), Grambling State (2011), and Southern (2010).
HAWKINSON PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF:
• Junior Josh Hawkinson picked up right where he left off at the end of the 2014-15 season, notching his 21st career double-double in the season opener, followed by his 22nd double-double in the second game of the season.
• Hawkinson finished with 15 points, tying the game high, and a game-high 11 rebounds in the opener.
• In WSU’s game against Idaho State, Nov. 20, Hawkinson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, his most rebounds since also grabbing 14 at UCLA, March 1, 2014.
• Hawkinson now has four-straight games with a double-double after notching double-doubles in WSU’s final two games of the season last year against Colorado (March 7) and California (March 11).
WINNING EARLY:
• WSU’s 3-0 start is its best since starting 3-0 in 2012-13.
• It has not won its first four games of the season since 2010-11 when WSU started 5-0 before falling to No. 5 Kansas State.
VIONT’E DANIELS’ BIG DEBUT:
• The new season brought seven new faces to the court for the Cougars, as all seven saw action in the season opener against Northern Arizona, Nov. 13.
• Although none of the newcomers started, freshman Viont’e Daniels played the second-most minutes on the team with 23 and tied the game high with 15 points.
• The 6-2 guard was a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range, becoming the first freshman to do so.
• A freshman was perfect from 3-point range when making 3 or more eight other times in WSU history, but none of those freshmen made more than 4 3-pointers.
• The last time a freshman was perfect from 3-point range when making 3 or more was Feb. 9, 2012 when DaVonté Lacy went 3-for-3 at Oregon State.
• Through three games, Daniels is fifth on the team with 8.3 points per game while shooting .529 (9-for-17) from the field and .538 (7-for-13) from 3-point range.
• He started against Idaho State, Nov. 20.
SUGGS MAKING A DIFFERENT TOO:
• Junior college transfer, junior Renard Suggs, has had an immediate impact for the Cougars too as he’s the only WSU player to reach double-figure scoring in all three games this season.
• Suggs ranks fourth on the team with 10.3 points per game, after scoring 11 in the season opener and 10 against Idaho State, Nov. 20 and Cal State LA., Nov. 24.
• On top of that, the 6-2 guard is third on the team with 4.3 rebounds an outing while shooting .500 (12-for-24) from the field.
BLOCK PARTY:
• Through just three games the Cougars have blocked 15 shots, averaging 6.7 blocks per game.
• Although just two games in, as of Nov. 25, WSU was 14th in the nation as a team in blocks per game.
• Heading up the block party is junior transfer Valentine Izundu who is averaging 4.3 blocks per game (which leads the nation).
• The school record for blocks average in a season is 3.0 set by James Donaldson in 1978...he had a school-record 82 blocks that season.
• To put that in perspective, if Izundu can continue to average 4.3 blocks per game and plays 31 games, he’d finish with 133 blocked shots, which wold set thet school record.
• Izundu had 4 blocks in the first game of the season against NAU and 6 in the Nov. 20 meeting with Idaho State...the school record for blocks in a game is 10, also set by Donaldson, Dec. 6, 1977.
ABOUT THE 2015-16 COUGARS:
• WSU head coach Ernie Kent is in his second season after leading the Cougars to their most Pac-12 wins since 2011-12 with a 7-11 league mark in 2014-15.
• The Cougars return three starters in junior guard Ike Iroegbu, his classmate, forward, Josh Hawkinson and sophomore guard Ny Redding. • WSU loses leading scorer DaVonté Lacy to graduation, but Hawkinson returns as the leading scorer and rebounder after averaging 14.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game a year ago.
• Hawkinson made his mark on WSU history as he led the nation with 8.7 defensive rebounds per game and was fourth in the NCAA with 20 double-doubles.
• He broke WSU single season records for double-doubles as well as rebounds, marks that had stood for 48 and 51 years, respectively.
• He needs just 156 rebounds to break into WSU’s career top-20 and is on pace to set a WSU career rebounding record held by Steve Puidokas (1974-77) with 992.
• Iroegbu and senior forward Junior Longrus are looking to move up in WSU’s career record books as well, as Longrus is tied for 18th on WSU’s blocked shots list with 55 and Iroegbu needs just 75 more assists to break into the WSU career top-20.
• Also returning for the Cougars are senior Brett Boese and redshirt junior Que Johnson.
• Boese had his best output of his career last season as a junior, averaging 4.3 points per game, while shooting .361 from beyond the 3-point arc.
• Johnson put up 6.1 points a game, while shooting the highest mark from the charity stripe with a .854 clip.
• Redshirt junior Valentine Izundu will make his game debut for the Cougars this season after sitting out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA rules after transferring from Houston.
• Izundu averaged 2.0 points and 1.1 blocks in just 8.0 minutes per game at Houston as a freshman in 2012-13.
• Joining the Cougars are four junior college transfers and two true freshmen.
• Juniors Conor Clifford, Charles Callison and Renard Suggs and sophomore Derrien King make up the group of transfers.
• A 7-foot-center, Clifford was named the Southern California (SoCal) and Orange Empire Conference MVPs at Saddleback College last season.
• A 6-foot-point guard, Callison was named the Foothill Conference’s MVP, as well as the 2014 Press-Enterprise Area College Men’s Athlete of the Year following his sophomore Year at San Bernardino Valley College.
• A 6-2 guard, Suggs led Gillette College to JUCO Nationals last season, averaging 13.5 points per game.
• King, a 6-6 guard, averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot .417 from the field at Santa Monica College last season.
• Guard Viont’e Daniels and forward Robert Franks make up the freshman class.
• The Washington 4A State Player of the Year, Daniels averaged 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior at Federal Way High School.
• Franks was named an Associated Press All-State honorable mention honoree at Vancouver’s Evergreen High School last season.
ERNIE KENT ENTERS SECOND SEASON WITH THE COUGARS:
• Veteran head coach and former Fox Sports and Pac-12 Networks basketball analyst was named the 18th head coach in WSU men’s basketball history, March 31, 2014.
• Kent came to Pullman with a 325-254 (.561) mark as a head coach, having spent six seasons at the helm for Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Calif., and 13 at Oregon.
• In his 13 years at Oregon, Kent compiled a 235-174 (.575) record and a 109-125 (.466) conference mark.
• His 109 conference wins rank 17th most in Pac-12 history (including Pacific-8 and Pacific-10 Conferences).
• While at Oregon, Kent led the Ducks to seven postseason appearances, including five NCAA Tournament Appearances (2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008) as well as a Pac-10 regular-season (2002) and two conference tournament (2003, 2007) titles.
• Kent’s first season with the Cougars wasn’t much different than his first with the Ducks, as he led Oregon to a 13-14 overall record and 8-10 league mark as Oregon finished sixth in the then-Pacific-10 Conference...he led WSU to a 13-18 overall record and 7-11 league mark.
LAST OUTING:
• Junior transfer Conor Clifford scored a WSU-high 18 points while tying his career high, set while at UC Irvine against Pacifica, Nov. 15, 2012.
• Clifford was 7-for-9 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line while grabbing 5 rebounds.
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson scored in double-figures for the second time in the three games this season with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field.
• Johnson added a career-high 3 steals.
• Ike Iroegbu had a career-high 7 rebounds…his previous high was 6 done four times, including WSU’s last outing against Idaho State…he led the team in rebounding for the fourth time in his career.
• Iroegbu was in double-figure scoring for the second-straight game with 10 points.
• Sophomore Derrien King’s 3 points are a career high, previous high was 2…he made his first career field goal.
• Junior Renard Suggs has scored in double figures all three games of his career, finishing with 10 points.
• WSU’s .538 field goal percentage is its best since shooting .553 from the field against Washington, Feb. 22, 2015.
• WSU moves to 3-0 for the first time the 2012-13 season.
• Tuesday marked the first meeting between WSU and Cal State Los Angeles.
• WSU leading scorer and rebounder, Josh Hawkinson, did not play due to injury.
COURTESY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
