Washington State University Athletics
WSU to Face No. 3 Oklahoma in Hawaii
December 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
COUGARS HEAD TO 2015 HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC: Washington State University men's basketball (7-2) will conclude it's 2015-16 nonconference season as it heads to Honolulu, Hawaii for the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, Dec. 22, 23 and 25, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
• First up WSU will take on No. 3 Oklahoma (8-0), Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 8 p.m. PT/6 p.m. HT.
• Tuesday's game will be televised on ESPNU as Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Brad Daughtery (color analyst) have the call.
• WSU's next game will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at either 4 p.m. HT or 6:30 p.m. HT (6 p.m. PT or 8:30 p.m. PT), depending on Tuesday's outcome...the Cougars will face either tournament-host Hawaii or Northern Iowa.
• The tournament will conclude on Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25.
• Derek Deis will fill in for first-year voice of the Cougars, Matt Chazanow who will be with football for its bowl game, and 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 SOONERS:
• Tuesday marks just the second all-time meeting between Washington State and Oklahoma, as the Sooners hold a 1-0 advantage in the series.
• The only other meeting between the two schools also happened at an ESPN holiday tournament, at the 2011 76 Classic at Anaheim, Calif., with Oklahoma winning 74-59.
• Like at the Diamond Head Classic, that game was also the first game of the tournament for both teams.
• The Cougars went on to lose all three games in the tournament, while the Sooners won their first two games before falling to Saint Louis in the championship game.
WSU AGAINST THE BIG 12:
• Oklahoma is one of 10 members of the Big 12 Conference, joined by Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
• WSU has a 9-14 all-time record against current members of the conference.
• The only team from the league that WSU hasn't faced is Iowa State.
• The Cougars have a winning record against Baylor (3-1), Texas Tech (1-0) and West Virginia (1-0).
• They're tied at 1-1 with Oklahoma State and have losing records against Kansas (0-2), Kansas State (2-4), Oklahoma (0-1), TCU (1-3) and Texas (0-2).
• WSU has played against a current member of the Big 12, 12 of the last 13 seasons, with the exception being 2006-07.
COUGARS AGAINST RANKED FOES:
• Oklahoma is currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-25, coming in at No. 3 in the Dec. 14 poll.
• WSU is 48-224 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-25, 1-75 against teams ranked in the top 5 and 0-53 against top-3 teams.
• WSU's lone win against a top 5 opponent came against No. 4 Oregon State, Feb. 16, 1980.
• The last top-5 team that WSU faced was No. 1 Arizona, Jan. 2, 2014, resulting in a 60-25 loss at Tucson.
• The Cougars haven't played a No. 3 ranked team since January 21, 1999 when the traveled to Stanford...Oklahoma also marks the only non-current member of the Pac-12 that WSU has faced as the No. 3 team in the country (Washington, Utah, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Stanford).
• It's just the second non-Pac-12 top-3 team that WSU will have faced after taking on No. 1 North Carolina in the 2008 NCAA Tournament 'Sweet 16'.
• The Cougars have lost their last eight games against ranked opponents with their last win coming against No. 23, UCLA, March 6, 2013.
• WSU defeated a ranked team the last time it competed in the Diamond Head Classic, knocking off then-No. 15 Baylor in the semifinals of the tournament...that was also the last ranked nonconference opponent that WSU defeated.
• Oklahoma is the second ranked opponent of the season for WSU after falling to then-No. 13 Gonzaga, 69-60, at home, Dec. 2.
AGAINST THE REST OF THE FIELD:
• The Cougars have faced three of the other six teams in the 2015 Diamond Head Classic.
• In game number two of the tournament, WSU will play either host-Hawaii or Northern Iowa.
• WSU has faced Hawaii 6 times in the two teams' histories, holding a 5-1 advantage...the last meeting took place Dec. 29, 1991 at Honolulu in the Rainbow Classic, a 63-61 Cougar victory.
• Washington State and Northern Iowa have never met on the hardwood.
• On the other side of the bracket are Auburn, BYU, Harvard and New Mexico.
• The Cougars have never faced Auburn or Harvard, but have met BYU 10 times and New Mexico four times.
• The series between the Cougars and the Cougars is tied at 5-5 as they last met Nov. 22, 2005 in a WSU home game at Spokane Arena...BYU won the last meeting, but Washington State has taken three of the last four matchups.
• New Mexico holds a 3-1 advantage in the series with Washington State, as the two teams last met Nov. 25, 2011 at the 76 Classic at Anaheim, one day after WSU fell to Oklahoma in the tournament.
• New Mexico won the last two meetings, but the two have split in neutral-site matchups.
• For complete series records, please see page one of today's notes.
COUGARS IN HAWAII:
• WSU is 11-7 all-time in games that take place in the state of Hawaii.
• The Cougars were last in Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic during the 2010-11 season.
• WSU has never made a trip to Hawaii without a win and just once did it have more losses than wins in the state of Hawaii in one trip.
WSU IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENTS:
• WSU has played in 64 regular season tournaments dating back to the 1954-55 season, holding an 82-81 all-time record in those tournaments.
• Five of them have taken place in Hawaii, all of the Hawaiian tournaments have taken place in Honolulu.
• The Cougars have struggled as of late in regular season tournaments, having gone just 4-8 in their last four tournaments, but went 2-1 last season at the Great Alaska Shootout (See page 4 of today's notes for more).
• Prior to that, WSU appeared in the championship game of its 2009 and 2010 tournaments, the Great Alaska Shootout and Diamond Head Classic.
• In 2009, then-sophomore Klay Thompson had a breakout performance as he led the Cougars to the championship at the Great Alaska Shootout.
• The Ladera Ranch, Calif. native earned Most Outstanding Player honors averaging 29.7 points, five rebounds, 4.7 assists and two steals in wins against Alaska Anchorage, Nicholls State and San Diego.
• His junior year, Thompson led WSU to wins over Mississippi State and No. 15 Baylor in its first two games of the 2010 Diamond Head Classic, before falling to Butler in the championship game on Christmas Day.
• Butler went on to fall to UConn in the NCAA Title game that year.
• Thompson was named to the all-tournament team.
WINNING EARLY:
• WSU's 7-2 start in its first nine games is its best start since going 8-1 in its first nine games in 2010-11.
• The Cougars went on to go 10-1 to start the season and finished nonconference action with a 10-2 record, as that was the last time WSU played in the Diamond Head Classic at Honolulu.
BLOCK PARTY:
• Through just nine games the Cougars have blocked 58 shots, averaging 7.0 blocks per game.
• Although just nine games in, as of games on Dec. 18, WSU was second in the nation as a team, and led the Pac-12 in blocks per game.
• Heading up the block party is junior transfer Valentine Izundu who is averaging 3.33 blocks per game which is ranked sixth in the nation and second in the Pac-12.
• The school team record for blocked shots in a season is 155 set in 2007 (34 games)...right now the Cougars are on pace to finish with 217 blocked shots in a 31-game season.
• The individual 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 3.33 blocks per game and plays 31 games, he'd finish with 103 blocked shots, which is 21 more than the record.
• Izundu had a career-high 6 blocked shots 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.
NEW STARS STEP UP:
• While junior Josh Hawkinson has played a pretty steady role of leading man this year, each game has brought a different best supporting performance by a Cougar.
• In WSU's Dec. 18 game against Texas State, Hawkinson's classmate and roommate, Ike Iroegbu out-scored his pal by 1 point, finishing witt 18 points...he added 6 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting 7-for-11 from the field.
• Sophomore Derrien King had his breakout performance when he scored 9 points in 6 first-half minutes against UTEP, Dec. 13, going on to finish with 10 points.
• Junior Charles Callison was just 3 assists shy of a double-double when he had 7 assists and 10 points at Idaho on Dec. 10.
• Callison had put up 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting one game prior against Portland State, Dec. 6
• With Hawkinson struggling from the field against No. 13 Gonzaga to finish with just 4 points, junior veterans Que Johnson and Ike Iroegbu put up 18 and 17 points, respectively on a combined 15-for-31 shooting (.483).
• Against Texas Southern, Nov. 28, Iroegbu went 7-for-9 from the field for 19 points, while senior Junior Longrus was a bucket shy of his first career double-double with a career-high 10 rebounds, 8 points, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots.
• With Hawkinson out with an injury, 7-foot-center, and redshirt junior, Conor Clifford stepped up for 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting and 5 rebounds, to lead the Cougars in scoring against Cal State Los Angeles, Nov. 24.
• Redshirt junior Valentine Izundu captured Cougar hearts when he blocked 6 shots against Idaho State, Nov. 20, combined with 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field while adding 7 boards...Iroegbu starred in that game as well with 21 points and 7 assists.
• It was freshman Viont'e Daniels' big night on opening day as he went 5-for-5 from 3-point range to finish with 15 points...he added 4 rebounds, 2 assist and 2 steals.
LEADER OF THE PAC:
• Washington State leads the Pac-12 in two categories, blocked shots (7.0 bpg) and field goal percentage (.506) in games through Dec. 18.
• WSU is also in the top-five in six other categories, including third in free throw percentage (.716), steals (7.4 spg) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.314).
• In the individual rankings, juniors Josh Hawkinson and Ike Iroegbu rank sixth and 21st, respectively, in scoring.
• Hawkinson also leads the conference in rebounding, and defensive rebounds per game, is tied for eighth in free throw percentage, seventh for field goal percentage and 11th for blocked shots…he is also tied for first with 6 double-doubles this season.
• Iroegbu leads the league in 3-point percentage, is third in free throw percentage, is 10th for field goal percentage and is tied for 11th for assists.
• Junior Charles Callison is third for assist/turnover ratio, sixth for steals per game and ninth for assists.
• Junior Valentine Izundu is second in the league for blocked shots…senior Junior Longrus is 14th for blocked shots.
• Redshirt junior Conor Clifford is second in the league in field goal percentage and first for free throw percentage.
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 returned three starters in junior guard Ike Iroegbu, his classmate, forward, Josh Hawkinson and sophomore guard Ny Redding.
• WSU lost 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.
• Heading into the season he needed 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.
• 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 made 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.
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.
• He started against Idaho State, Nov. 20.
COUGARS MAKE BODY CHANGES PRIOR TO SEASON:
• WSU men's basketball student-athletes made changes to their bodies prior to the 2015-16 season to be fitter, faster and stronger, with the help of strength coach, Scott Thom.
• Redshirt junior Valentine Izundu gained 20 lbs and increased his standing vertical jump by 4.5 inches to 35.5 inches.
• Redshirt junior Conor Clifford lost 30 lbs. and increased his standing vertical jump 3.5 inches to 25 inches.
• Sophomore Derrien King gained 20 lbs. and increased his standing vertical jump 3 inches to 28 inches.
• Junior Renard Suggs gained 15 lbs. and increased his standing vertical jump 3.7 inches to 34.7 inches.
• Freshman Viont'e Daniels gained 15 lbs. and has a 40.5 inch vertical approach jump.
• Junior Charles Callison gained 10 lbs., and has a 42.5 inch vertical approach jump.
• Freshman Robert Franks lost 15 lbs to 240 and vertical jump is up 2.8 inches to 23 inches.
• Junior Josh Hawkinson increased his vertical approach jump by 2 inches, jumping 38.5 inches with a two-step approach.
• As a team WSU increased standing vertical jump to 26.5 inches and broad jump 27 inches.
• As a team squatted 320 more lbs., deadlifted 444 more lbs., did 50 more pull-ups and benched 135 more lbs.
HAWKINSON NAMED TO KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR WATCH LIST:
• Junior Josh Hawkinson has been named to the 20-member 2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award watch list.
• Hawkinson is one of four Pac-12 student-athletes to be named to the list, as he's joined by Kaleb Tarczewski of Arizona, Josh Scott of Colorado and Jakob Poeltl of Utah.
• Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its second year recognizes the top centers in men's college basketball.
• A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates and by mid-February, the list will be narrowed down to just 10.
• In March, five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee and the winner of the 2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's from Club Nokia in Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday, April 8, 2016.
COUGARS SIGN TWO FOR 2016-17 SEASON:
• Milan Acquaah (6-2, 195, Guard, Pasadena, Calif. - Cathedral HS) and Jeff Pollard (6-8, 235, forward, Bountiful, Utah - Impact Academy-Nev.) signed NLIs to join the WSU men's basketball team next season.
• Acquaah is beginning his second season at Cathedral HS after spending one and a half years at Pasadena's La Salle HS and a semester at Chino Hills HS.
• As a junior at Cathedral HS, Acquaah averaged 19.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists and earned open division first team all-CIF honors as a junior, as well as Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior First Team accolades.
• Pollard enters his first season at Impact Academy at Las Vegas in 2015-16, after graduating from Bountiful HS in 2015.
• At BHS he led his teams to back-to-back State championships as a junior (2013-14) and senior (2014-15) and led the Braves with 22 points and 5 steals in the 66-54 victory over Kearns HS in the title game his senior year as he averaged 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds a game during the season.
LAST OUTING:
• WSU survived overtime to defeat Texas State, 78-73, Dec. 18 at Beasley Coliseum.
• Junior Ike Iroegbu had a team-high 18 points, 3 points shy of his season high.
• He added 4 assists and 1 steal and was 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
• Junior Josh Hawkinson had his sixth double-double of the season and 26th of his career with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
• Hawkinson scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game.
• Redshirt junior Conor Clifford reached double figures for the third-straight game and fourth time this season with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field.
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson had his fifth double-figure scoring game on the season with 13 points.
• Redshirt junior Valentine Izundu has blocked at least 3 shots in each of the last 3 games and seven of the 9 games this season as he had 3 against Texas State.
• The overtime game was the first for the Cougars this season as they improved to 4-0 in overtime games under Ernie Kent.
• For the fourth-straight game and the sixth time this season, WSU shot above .500 from the field, going 29-for-54 for a .537 clip.
• The Cougars outrebounded the Bobcats, 43-21, their biggest rebounding margin this season.
