WSU HITS THE ROAD FOR THREE-STRAIGHT GAMES: Washington State University men's basketball (9-18, 1-14) concludes its regular season with three-straight road games, beginning at No. 13 Oregon, Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Matthew Knight Arena at Eugene, Ore., at 7 p.m.
• Wednesday's game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks as Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Kevin O'Neill (color analyst) 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 DUCKS:
• Wednesday marks the 290th all-time meeting between Washington State and Oregon, as the Ducks hold a 165-124 advantage in the series.
• For the first time since 1922, WSU and Oregon won't meet at least twice in the regular season (the two teams didn't meet each other at all in 1922).
• Last season the two teams split the series, each winning at home, as WSU put up its most points in the series with 108 in an OT win, Jan. 15 and Oregon came away with a 23-point victory at Eugene, Feb. 8.
• WSU is 43-96 all-time at Oregon and has not won at Matthew Knight Arena since it opened in 2011.
• The Cougars have six-straight games at Oregon, their last win at Eugene having come Jan. 17, 2009.
• WSU has won just two of the last 13 matchups against Oregon, including last season at home and Jan. 8, 2011 at home.
• Four of those 13 games went to at least one overtime.
• Ernie Kent coached at Oregon for 13 seasons, but he holds a 1-3 record against the Ducks from his time as head coach at Saint Mary's and WSU.
• In the series between WSU and Oregon, Ernie Kent holds a 23-6 record, as he defeated the Cougars 22 times in his time as head coach for the Ducks and defeated the Ducks once as head coach of the Cougars.
WSU AGAINST RANKED FOES:
• Oregon is currently ranked 13th in this week's Associated Press Poll.
• WSU is 1-4 this season and 49-227 all-time against teams ranked in the AP Top-25.
• The Cougars snapped a nine-game losing streak to ranked opponents when they defeated No. 25 UCLA, Jan. 3, 2016 at Pullman...WSU's previous win over a ranked foe was also UCLA, then-No. 23, March 6, 2013, also at Pullman.
• WSU is 5-12 all-time against ranked Oregon teams.
• The last time WSU played a ranked Oregon team was in the 2012-13 season, when the Ducks were ranked for both meetings.
• WSU fell in overtime, 79-77 at home, Feb. 16 when Oregon was ranked 23rd and fell 68-61 at Eugene, Jan. 23, when Oregon was ranked 16th.
• WSU has never beat the No. 13 team in the country, holding a 0-8 mark.
• The last time the Cougars faced the 13th-ranked team in the country was against Gonzaga earlier this season, Dec., 2, resulting in a 69-60 loss.
ON THIS DAY:
• The Cougars are 14-25 all-time on Feb. 24.
• The last time WSU played on Feb. 24, it defeated Oregon State, 58-54, at Corvallis, in 2007.
• Two years before that, WSU fell to then-No. 9 Arizona, 57-56, in overtime in 2005.
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 15.4 and 10.8 boards a game, while Iroegbu has 13.5 ppg game and leads with 3.5 assists per game.
• Combined the forward and guard are shooting .514 (273-for-531) from the field and are accounting for 39 percent of the Cougars' points this season.
• Only six times this season has neither Iroegbu nor Hawkinson led WSU in scoring and only three times has neither led WSU in rebounding.
• Iroegbu is the only Cougar to start all 27 games this season.
CHANGING UP THE LINEUP:
• Through 27 games this season, WSU has used 13 different starting lineups.
• Nine different Cougars have gotten at least three starting nods this season, as junior Ike Iroegbu is the only Cougar to start all 27 games this season.
• Below is a look at the different starting lineups used this season:
Hawkinson, Clifford, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (6)
Hawkinson, Izundu, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (5)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Redding, Boese (3)
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, Clifford, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (1)
Hawkinson, Boese, Izundu, Iroegbu, Johnson (1)
Hawkinson, Izundu, Iroegbu, Redding, Johnson (1)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Johnson, Boese (1)
Longrus, Hawkinson, Iroegbu, Daniels, Boese (1)
RIGHT ON QUE:
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson has come on strong lately for the Cougars, having led them in scoring in three of the last four games.
•Johnson has scored in double figures each of the last four games and seven of the last eight games.
• Over the season, Johnson is averaging 10.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
• In the last four games (dating back to Feb. 11), Johnson is leading the team with 17.3 points per game, adding 3.5 rebounds an outing.
• In the last eight games, Johnson is also leading the team with 13.6 points per game, adding 2.9 rebounds an outing.
• In WSU's first 23 games of the season, Johnson attempted 49 free throws (2.1 free throws attempted per game).
• In the last four, Johnson has attempted 22 free throws (5.5 free throws attempted per game).
BLOCK PARTY:
• Through 27 games the Cougars have blocked 123 shots, averaging 4.6 blocks per game.
• As of games on Feb. 21, WSU was 57th in the nation as a team, and sixth in the Pac-12 in blocks per game.
• Heading up the block party is junior transfer Valentine Izundu who is averaging 2.2 blocks per game which was ranked 15th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 prior to Izundu's foot injury in which he missed eight games.
• 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 143 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.
• Izundu's 2.2 blocks per game average currently ranks fourth all-time in WSU's single-season record books.
A WIN WEDNESDAY WOULD:
• Make WSU 10-18 this season.
• Make WSU 2-14 in Pac-12 play this season.
• Snap WSU's 13-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 it's first win at Matthew Knight Arena and first at Oregon since the 2008-09 season.
A LOSS WEDNESDAY WOULD:
• Make WSU 9-19 this season.
• Make WSU 1-15 in Pac-12 play this season.
• Keep WSU winless at Matthew Knight Arena and give Oregon a seven-game winning streak over WSU at home.
• Extend WSU's losing streak to 14 games, its longest since a 14-game losing streak in 2002-03.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE; MR. 20-20:
• Junior Josh Hawkinson leads the Pac-12 and is sixth in the nation with 18 double-doubles in just 25 games this season (he missed the Nov. 24 game with a groin injury and Feb. 6 with an ankle 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 16 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 18 times (Rokus Gustys of Hofstra and Joel Bolomby of Weber State have each 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 10.8 rebounds per game average, he's on pace to come just shy of his own single-season record set last year with 334 rebounds.
• In WSU's Jan. 9 game against Washington, Hawkinson moved into WSU's career record book for rebounds, and currently ranks 12th all-time with 650 career rebounds.
• He has 271 rebounds through 25 games this season, if he can keep 10.8 rpg average, he would finish the season with 313 rebounds and 704 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 29 games this season (he missed the Nov. 24 game due to a groin injury and Feb. 6 due to an ankle injury) and he continues to average 15.4 points per game, he will end the season with 935 career points, just shy of 1,000.
• Hawkinson also has 18 double-doubles through 25 games this season…he's on pace to finish the season with 21 double-doubles, one more than his single-season record he set as a sophomore.
• It would also give him 41 career double-doubles which would be second-best in school history and 12 behind Steve Puidokas (1974-77) who holds the WSU record with 53.
MISSING PIECES:
• The Cougars have played 13 games with all the pieces to their puzzle and 14 when missing either Josh Hawkinson (two games), Charles Callison (four games) or Valentine Izundu (eight games).
• WSU is 8-5 in games with all three of those student-athletes and 1-13 when missing one of the three.
• WSU averages 10 more points with all three with 76.5 points per game compared to 66.8.
• WSU's opponents are averaging 10 more points without at least one of those three, 81.1 compared to 71.9.
• Prior to his injury, Izundu ranked third in the Pac-12 and in the top 15 in the nation for blocks per game.
• WSU lost all eight of the games Izundu missed this season, all eight in Pac-12 play.
• WSU blocks two more shots per game with Izundu, at 5.3 per game, than without him, at 3.3 blocks per game.
• The Cougars obviously missed their shot blocker as WSU opponents averaged 85.4 points per game without Izundu in the lineup.
• In games with Izundu, WSU's opponents are averaging 72.6 points per game.
• In his return, Feb. 6 against Arizona State, Izundu tied his career highs with 10 points and 7 rebounds, and added 3 blocked shots.
• WSU has had to play two games without its leading rebounder and scorer, Josh Hawkinson, who missed the Nov. 24 game against Cal State L.A. and the Feb. 6 game against Arizona State.
• Although the Cougars defeated Cal State L.A., 74-57, their 74 points marked the fewest in a win this season for WSU.
• WSU's 55 points in its loss to Arizona State marked its third-fewest points scored in a game this season.
• Starting point guard, Charles Callison, missed the last four games for WSU due to a concussion, losses at Colorado, Feb. 11 and Utah, Feb. 14 and at home against Stanford, Feb. 18 and California, Feb. 21.
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 66.2 points in losses.
• WSU's opponents are averaging 67.1 points per game in Cougar wins, while they are at 81.4 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 13.7 ppg in losses, second-best on the team.
• Junior Ike Iroegbu is leading WSU in scoring in losses with 14.1 points per game, nearly four more points than his 12.4 ppg in WSU wins.
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.
• For the third time in four games, redshirt junior, Que Johnson led WSU in scoring as he put up 17 points in WSU's loss to California, Feb. 21.
• At home against Stanford, Feb. 18, redshirt junior, Que Johnson, had his third-straight double-figure scoring game with 14 points, adding 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
• Freshman Robert Franks made all 7 of his career-high 7 free throw attempts as he finished with 10 points in WSU loss at Utah, Feb. 14.
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson, senior Brett Boese and sophomore Ny Redding all had huge games in WSU's heartbreaking double-overtime loss at Colorado, Feb. 11.
• Johnson had a career-high 25 points, Boese was 3-for-4 from 3-point range with 13 points and Redding finished with a solid 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists...all three played season-high minutes.
• Hawkinson was sidelined in WSU's game against Arizona State, Feb. 6, forcing others to step up...in his first game back from injury, redshirt junior, Valentine Izundu stepped up to have the second-most points for the Cougars and lead them in rebounding, tying his career highs with 10 points and 7 rebounds...Izundu added 3 blocked shots.
• Hawkinson's 16th double-double was complemented by junior Ike Iroegbu's 20 points, marking his third 20-point performance in the last four games.
• For the third-straight game, Iroegbu, led WSU in scoring with 16 points, while he chipped in 4 rebounds and a steal in WSU's loss at UCLA, Jan. 30.
• Iroegbu established him as co-leading man as he had his second-straight 20-point game, finishing with 21 points in WSU's loss at USC, Jan. 28.
• 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 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.
• 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.
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 11 times this season, all 11 losses.
• Just five 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 0-17 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 2-31 when trailing at the half.
GET TO 80:
• Washington State has scored 80 or more points in seven games this season.
• The Cougars are 5-2 when scoring 80 or more points, including 1-1 when reaching the 90-point plateau.
• On the other side, WSU is 0-11 when its opponent scores 80 or more points.
• Under second-year head coach Ernie Kent, the Cougars are 14-2 when scoring at least 80 points in a game.
• The Cougars under Kent are 0-16 when scoring less than 60 points and 1-27 when scoring less than 70 points in two seasons.
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.