COUGARS LOOK TO SNAP LOSING STREAK: Washington State University men's basketball (9-10, 1-6) looks to snap its five-game losing streak as it travels to Los Angeles to take on USC (15-5, 4-3), Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m., at the Galen Center.
• Thursday's game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks as Spero Dedes (play-by-play) and Mike Montgomery (color analyst) have the call.
• Following Thursday's game, WSU will take on UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, Saturday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m.
• That game will also be televised on Pac-12 Networks as Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (color analyst) will have the call.
• First-year voice of the Cougars, Matt Chazanow 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 TROJANS:
• Thursday marks the 119th all-time meeting between Washington State and USC, as the Trojans hold a 70-48 advantage in the series.
• USC won the first meeting between the two teams in both teams' Pac-12 opener, Jan. 1 at Pullman by a score of 90-77.
• The Trojans jumped out to an early 23-10 lead in the first nine minutes, and extended the lead to as many as 25 with 4:32 to go until halftime.
• The hole was too much for the Cougars, who out-scored the Trojans 40-36 in the second half, as WSU fell by 13 points.
• USC leads 44-15 in home games against Washington State.
• Last season the only meeting between WSU and USC took place at Los Angeles, as WSU escaped with a 70-66 victory.
• The Cougars have won two of the last three games at USC, but have not won two-consecutive road games against the Trojans since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
• This season marks the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Cougars and Trojans will play each other in the month of January and the first meeting, Jan. 1, marked the earliest meeting since they met Dec. 31, 2010.
COUGARS VERSUS BRUINS:
• Saturday marks the 121st all-time meeting between Washington State and UCLA, as the Bruins hold a 103-17 advantage in the series.
• WSU won the first meeting between the two teams this season, an 85-78 victory at Pullman, Jan. 3.
• The Cougars have won at UCLA just three times, as the Bruins hold a 55-3 advantage in the series at home.
• WSU's three wins at UCLA came Feb. 21, 2009, Feb. 5, 2004 and Jan. 26, 1980.
• Last season, in the only meeting between the two teams, the Cougars fell just five points shy of their fourth victory at UCLA, falling 72-67, March 1, 2015.
• The first meeting this season, Jan. 3, marked the earliest the two teams have played since Dec. 29, 2010 of the 2010-11 season and the first time they will play in January since playing Jan. 23, 2010 if the 2009-10 season.
VETERANS STEP UP:
• The Cougars have been led this season by captains, roommates and juniors, Josh Hawkinson and Ike Iroegbu.
• Hawkinson leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.4 and 10.9 boards a game, while Iroegbu has 14.5 ppg game and leads with 3.8 assists per game.
• Combined the forward and guard are shooting .549 (208-for-379) from the field and are accounting for 40 percent of the Cougar's points this season.
• Only twice this season has neither Iroegbu nor Hawkinson led WSU in scoring, and just once neither of them led the Cougars in rebounding.
• Iroegbu is the only Cougar to start all 19 games this season.
CHANGING UP THE LINEUP:
• Through 19 games this season, WSU has used eight different starting lineups.
• Nine different Cougars have gotten at least two starting nods this season, as junior Ike Iroegbu is the only Cougar to start all 19 games this season.
• Below is a look at the different starting lineups used this season:
Hawkinson, Clifford, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (5)
Hawkinson, Izundu, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (5)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (3)
Longrus, Izundu, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (2)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Redding, Johnson (1)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Daniels, Callison (1)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Boese, Iroegbu, Callison (1)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Redding, Boese (1)
BLOCK PARTY:
• Through 19 games the Cougars have blocked 100 shots, averaging 5.3 blocks per game.
• As of games on Jan. 25, WSU was 27th in the nation as a team, and fourth in the Pac-12 in blocks per game.
• Heading up the block party is junior transfer Valentine Izundu who is averaging 2.7 blocks per game which is ranked 15th in the nation and third in the Pac-12...Izundu has missed the last five games due to a foot injury.
• 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 164 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.
• 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.
A WIN THURSDAY WOULD:
• Make WSU 10-10 this season.
• Make WSU 2-6 in Pac-12 play this season.
• Snap WSU's five-game losing streak.
• Put head coach Ernie Kent two wins away from 350 career wins.
• Match WSU's win total from 2013-14 (10).
• Give WSU its second-straight road win over USC.
A LOSS THURSDAY WOULD:
• Make WSU 9-11 this season.
• Make WSU 1-7 in Pac-12 play this season.
• Tie WSU with its Pac-12 start from the 2013-14 season (1-7).
• Give USC a 71-48 advantage in the all-time series.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE; MR. 20-20:
• Junior Josh Hawkinson leads the Pac-12 and is fifth in the nation with 14 double-doubles in just 18 games this season (he missed the Nov. 24 game with a groin injury).
• In WSU's overtime game against Washington, Jan. 9, Hawkinson did something he had never done before, grabbed 20 rebounds.
• He added 21 points, marking his first 20-20 double-double.
• Hawkinson is one of 12 Division I student-athletes this season to grab 20 or more rebounds and score 20 or more points in a single game a total of 13 times (Rokus Gustys of Hofstra has done it twice).
• He's the only Pac-12 student-athlete to accomplish the feat this season and the first since March 9, 2006 when California's Leon Powe had 22 points and 20 rebounds against USC.
• His 20 rebounds are a Pac-12 best since Mike Moser of Oregon had 20 rebounds, Feb. 27, 2014 against UCLA.
HAWKINSON NOT SLOWING DOWN:
• After a breakout season as a sophomore last year, forward Josh Hawkinson has not slowed down this season.
• With a 10.9 rebounds per game average, he's on pace to come just shy of his own WSU single-season rebounding record from last season.
• In WSU's Jan. 9 game against Washington, Hawkinson moved into WSU's career record book for rebounds, and currently ranks 14th all-time with 576 career rebounds.
• He has 197 rebounds through 18 games this season, if he can keep 10.9 rpg average, he would finish the season with 327 rebounds and 706 career rebounds, which would put him at eighth in WSU's career record books for rebounds.
• If WSU plays 31 games this season and Hawkinson remains healthy to finish with 30 games this season (he missed the Nov. 24 game due to a groin injury) and he continues to average 16.7 points per game, he will end the season with 981 career points, just shy of 1,000.
• Hawkinson also has 14 double-doubles through 18 games this season…he's on pace to finish the season with 23 double-doubles, 3 more than his single-season record he set as a sophomore.
• It would also give him 43 career double-doubles which would be second-best in school history and 10 behind Steve Puidokas (1974-77) who holds the WSU record with 53.
MISSING VALENTINE:
• Junior center Valentine Izundu has missed WSU's last five games with a foot injury.
• Prior to his injury, Izundu ranked third in the Pac-12 and in the top 15 in the nation for blocks per game.
• WSU has lost all five of the games Izundu has missed this season, all five in Pac-12 play.
• With Izundu, the Cougars were 9-5, including 1-1 in Pac-12 action.
• WSU blocked 2.0 more shots per game with Izundu, at 5.8 per game, than without him, now at 3.8 blocks per game.
• The Cougars obviously miss their shot blocker as WSU opponents are averaging 88.0 points per game without Izundu in the lineup.
• In games with Izundu, WSU's opponents were averaging 70.9 points per game.
WINS VERSUS LOSSES:
• WSU's numbers look a lot different in games won compared to games lost.
• In WSU's nine wins, it's averaging 82.0 points per game, compared to 70.5 points in losses.
• WSU's opponents are averaging 67.1 points per game in Cougar wins, while they are at 82.8 points per game in Cougar losses.
• There's also a big discrepancy when it comes to individual production.
• Junior Josh Hawkinson leads the team in scoring in wins with 18.9 points per game...he's averaging just 14.5 ppg in losses, second-best on the team.
• Junior Ike Iroegbu is leading WSU in scoring in losses with 16.3 points per game, nearly 4 more points than his 12.4 ppg in WSU wins.
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson goes from 11.3 points per game in wins to 8.2 in losses.
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.
• Junior Ike Iroegbu put in another case to become co-leading man as he came just one point shy of his career high with 27 points in WSU's loss to Colorado, Jan. 23.
• Junior Que Johnson had his second-highest scoring output in a loss to Utah Jan. 21, as he put up 16 points.
• Against No. 18/16 Arizona, Jan. 16, junior Charles Callison stepped up with 12 points, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.
• In WSU's loss at Arizona State, it's first road Pac-12 game of the season, it was the youngsters that stepped up as freshman Robert Franks and sophomore Derrien King both had career highs with 11 points each...they both played career-high minutes as well.
• Iroegbu led WSU with a career-high 28 points as WSU fell to Washington in overtime, Jan. 9...his 28 points went well with Hawkinson's 20 points and 20 rebounds.
• In WSU's win over No. 25 UCLA, Jan. 3, a number of Cougars could be chosen as the best supporting player as juniors Johnson and Renard Suggs scored 14 points each (a career-high for Suggs), and classmates Charles Callison and Conor Clifford added 12 and 10 points, respectively...all complemented Hawkinson's 20 points.
• In the Pac-12 opener against USC, Jan. 1, Suggs had his most points and minutes since Dec. 13 as he scored 9 in 21 minutes, adding 3 assists and 4 rebounds.
• Iroegbu kept stride with Hawkinson in WSU's victory over New Mexico Dec. 25, notching a double-double of his own with 17 points and 11 assists.
• In the low-scoring affair against Northern Iowa, Dec. 23, sophomore Derrien King stepped up for the second time in four games, tying his career high with 10 points going 4-for-10 from the field.
• Iroegbu was the only other player than Hawkinson to reach double figures, tying the team high with 16 points while adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists as WSU fell to No. 3/2 Oklahoma, Dec. 22.
• In WSU's Dec. 18 game against Texas State, Iroegbu out-scored his pal by 1 point, finishing with 18 points...he added 6 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting 7-for-11 from the field.
• 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.
• 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 Johnson and 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, 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 has two individuals in four of the top-spots in the Pac-12 rankings.
• Junior Josh Hawkinson leads the conference in rebounds per game, defensive rebounds per game and double-doubles...he is also ninth in field goal percentage, fourth in free throw percentage and tied for eighth in blocks per game.
• His classmate, Ike Iroegbu, leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage...he's 10th in assists per game and 16th in scoring.
• Junior Charles Callison ranks 11th in steals per game.
KENT IN YEAR TWO:
• 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 117 conference wins rank 17th best 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.
• WSU's 13 wins in his first season tie him for third-best in Washington State history for wins by a men's basketball coach in his first season…he's tied with Kelvin Sampson (1987-88) and Dick Bennett (2003-04), as both of those were also improvements from the previous season.
• Kent has 347 career wins, needing just three more for 350.
ASSISTS LEAD TO WINS:
• Washington State has notched at least 15 assists in nine games this season.
• The Cougars are 7-2 this season when dishing out 15 or more assists.
• The Cougars have been out-assisted just five times this season, losses against ranked teams, No. 13 Gonzaga, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 18 Arizona, and losses against Washington and Colorado.
• Just four times this season has WSU had fewer than 10 assists in a game.
FIRST HALF TELLS THE STORY:
• The Cougars are 9-1 this season when leading at the half and 0-9 when trailing at the half (WSU's lone loss when leading at the half came Jan. 9 against Washington).
• Under second-year head coach Ernie Kent WSU is 18-4 when leading at the half and 2-23 when trailing at the half.
GET TO 80:
• Washington State has scored 80 or more points in six games this season.
• The Cougars are 5-1 when scoring 80 or more points, including 1-1 when reaching the 90-point plateau.
• On the other side, WSU is 0-6 when its opponent scores 80 or more points.
• Under second-year head coach Ernie Kent, the Cougars are 14-1 when scoring at least 80 points in a game.
• The Cougars under Kent are 0-12 when scoring less than 60 points and 1-21 when scoring less than 70 points in two seasons.
TAKING AIM:
• Through 19 games the Cougars are shooting .487 (532-for-1092) from the field.
• If the Cougars can keep shooting at that clip, it will be their best season field goal percentage since shooting .517 (902-for-1742) in 1994-95.
• The .517 clip is WSU's record.
• The Cougars currently rank 20th in the nation for field goal percentage and 51st for 3-point field goal percentage (.378).
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.
LAST OUTING:
• WSU dropped its fifth-straight game as it fell to Colorado, 75-70, Jan. 23, 2016 at Beasley Coliseum.
• Junior Ike Iroegbu returned to double figure points with a team-high 27 points…he has scored in double-figures in 5 of WSU's 7 Pac-12 games this season.
• Iroegbu was one point shy of his career high, which he accomplished against Washington in an overtime game, Jan. 9.
• Iroegbu was 12-for-20 from the field.
• Junior Conor Clifford tied his career high with 18 points…he was 8-for-9 from the field.
• The 18 points marked just the third double-figure scoring Pac-12 game for Clifford.
• Clifford had 11 points in 10 minutes in the first half.
• Junior Josh Hawkinson had his 14th double-double of the season and 34th of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• Hawkinson had gone two-straight games without a double-double, his longest streak of the season.
• Sophomore Ny Redding and senior Brett Boese both made their second starts of the season…Redding's was his first since the season opener, Nov. 13.
• Redding tied his season high with 5 assists and was one shy of his Pac-12 best.