WSU HEADS TO PAC-12 TOURNAMENT: Looking to end its 16-game losing streak and get its first tournament win since 2009, Washington State men's basketball (9-21, 1-17) heads to Las Vegas for the 2016 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament, March 9-12, held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
• WSU enters the tournament as the No. 12 seed and will take on fifth-seeded Colorado (21-10, 10-8), Wednesday, March 9 at 2:40 p.m.
• If the Cougars win they will advance to the quarterfinals to take on fourth-seeded Arizona, Thursday, March 10 at 2:40 p.m.
• Wednesday's game will be televised on Pac-12 Network as Kevin Calabro (play-by-play) and Don MacLean (color analyst) have the call with Jill Savage on the sidelines.
• 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 BUFFALOES:
• Wednesday's game marks just the 11th all-time meeting between Washington State and Colorado, as the Buffs hold an 8-2 advantage in the series.
• Last season WSU broke a five-game losing streak to the Buffs and notched its first win over CU as Pac-12 foes, as it won the second meeting, 96-91 in overtime, March 7, 2015 at Beasley Coliseum.
• Washington State fell to Colorado in the first meeting this season, 75-70, at Beasley Coliseum, Jan. 23...junior Ike Iroegbu was one point shy of his career high with 27 points in that game, as he was 12-for-20 from the field...junior Josh Hawkinson notched his 14th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• In the second meeting, redshirt junior Que Johnson scored a career-high 25 points as WSU fell to Colorado in a double-overtime thriller, 88-81, Feb. 11 at Boulder...once again Hawkinson had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
• WSU was without center Valentine Izundu in the first meeting Jan. 23 and without point guard Charles Callison in the Feb. 11 matchup.
• The Cougars are 1-7 against the Buffaloes since they joined the Pac-12 for the 2011-12 season.
• The two teams have met at a true neutral site just once resulting in an 84-74 WSU victory, Dec. 19, 1969...they have never met in the Pac-12 Tournament.
• Three of the last six games between WSU and Colorado were decided in overtime, WSU winning at home last season and Colorado getting victories in Spokane in 2014 and at Boulder this season, Feb. 11.
• Second year WSU head coach, Ernie Kent, is 1-3 against Colorado, with his only meetings coming at the helm for Washington State.
WSU IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT:
• Washington State is the No. 12 seed in the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament and will face No. 5 Colorado in the first round.
• Wednesday marks the first meeting between Washington State and Colorado in the conference tournament.
• Last year WSU faced California in the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time in the two schools' histories...with WSU facing Colorado in the first round this season, the only school it hasn't met in the tournament is Utah.
• The Cougars have not won a tournament game since the 2009 tournament when Tony Bennett's WSU squad defeated Ernie Kent's Oregon team.
• WSU was the No. 7 seed the last time it won a conference tournament game.
• WSU has never won a conference tournament game when seeded ninth or worse.
• Three of Washington State's last five tournament games were determined by 5 points or less, two of them by 2 points.
• If WSU were to win Wednesday, it would face fourth-seeded Arizona Thursday at 2:40 p.m.
• The Cougars have faced the Wildcats in the tournament once, 1989, where they fell 62-54.
ON THIS DAY:
• The Cougars are 3-14 all-time on March 9.
• The last time WSU played on March 9 was the Pac-12 finale in 2013, a 76-51 win over USC at Beasley Coliseum.
• The last time WSU played a conference tournament game on March 9 came in 2007 when WSU fell to USC, 70-61, in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament at Los Angeles.
RIGHT ON QUE:
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson has come on strong lately for the Cougars, having led them in scoring in four of the last seven games.
•Johnson has scored in double figures six of the last seven games and nine of the last 11 games.
• Over the season, Johnson is averaging 11.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
• In the last six games (dating back to Feb. 11), Johnson is leading the team with 16.4 points per game, adding 3.3 rebounds an outing.
• In the last 10 games, Johnson is second on the team with 13.9 points per game, adding 3.0 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 seven, Johnson has attempted 31 free throws (4.4 free throws attempted per game).
CHANGING UP THE LINEUP:
• Through 30 games this season, WSU has used 14 different starting lineups.
• Ten different Cougars have gotten at least three starting nods this season, as junior Ike Iroegbu is the only Cougar to start all 30 games this season.
• Below is a look at the different starting lineups used this season:
Hawkinson, Izundu, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (7) Hawkinson, Clifford, Iroegbu, Callison, Johnson (6)
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)
Hawkinson, Izundu, Iroegbu, Daniels, Johnson (1)
BLOCK PARTY:
• Through 30 games the Cougars have blocked 132 shots, averaging 4.4 blocks per game.
• As of games on March 5, WSU was 59th in the nation as a team, and seventh in the Pac-12 in blocks per game.
• Heading up the block party is junior transfer Valentine Izundu who is averaging 2.0 blocks per game...his total 45 blocks ranks 100th-best in the nation.
• 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 136 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 2.0 blocks per game average currently ranks fifth all-time in WSU's single-season record books.
A WIN WEDNESDAY WOULD:
• Make WSU 10-21 this season.
• Advance WSU to the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.
• Snap WSU's 16-game losing streak.
• Put head coach Ernie Kent two wins away from 350 career wins.
• Match WSU's win total from 2013-14 (10).
A LOSS WEDNESDAY WOULD:
• End WSU's season at 9-22.
• Extend WSU's losing streak to 17 games, its longest single-season losing streak since an 18-game losing streak during the 1989-90 season.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE; MR. 20-20:
• Junior Josh Hawkinson leads the Pac-12 and is seventh in the nation with 20 double-doubles in just 28 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 18 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 20 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 11.0 rebounds per game average, he's on pace to come just shy of his own single-season record set last year with 334 rebounds, currently ranking third with 307 this season.
• In WSU's Jan. 9 game against Washington, Hawkinson moved into WSU's career record book for rebounds, and currently ranks ninth all-time with 686 career rebounds.
• He has 307 rebounds through 28 games this season, if he can keep 11.0 rpg average, he would finish the season with 318 rebounds and 712 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 15.6 points per game, he will end the season with 941 career points, just shy of 1,000.
• Hawkinson also has 20 double-doubles through 28 games this season, which ties his WSU single-season record he set last year as a sophomore.
• He also has 40 career double-doubles which is second-best in school history and 13 behind Steve Puidokas (1974-77) who holds the WSU record with 53.
MISSING PIECES:
• The Cougars have played 16 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 8-8 in games with all three of those student-athletes and 1-13 when missing one of the three.
• WSU averages eight more points with all three with 74.8 points per game compared to 66.8.
• WSU's opponents are averaging nearly 10 more points without at least one of those three, 81.1 compared to 73.7.
• 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 over one more shots per game with Izundu, at 4.8 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 74.1 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 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.
FEWEST CONFERENCE WINS:
• WSU has won just one conference game four other times since joining the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968-69.
• Two of WSU's three head coaches to take a team to the NCAA Tournament since 1943 experienced one-win conference seasons.
• George Raveling's squad went 1-13 in the Pacific-8 in 1974-75 and five years later was in the NCAA Tournament after going 14-4 in league play in 1979-80.
• In his third season with the Cougars, Kelvin Sampson's Cougars went 1-17 in the Pacific-10 Conference in 1989-90.
• Four seasons later Sampson had his team 'dancing' as WSU went 10-8 in the Pac-10 and 20-11 overall for a trip to the 1994 NCAA Tournament.
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 66.3 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 14.4 ppg in losses, second-best on the team.
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.
• At Washington, March 2, junior Conor Clifford went 8-for-10 from the field to tie his career high with 18 points...he had 12 of his points in the first half as WSU's second-half comeback fell just short in the loss.
• In just his second game back from a concussion, junior Charles Callison led WSU through most of the game and finished with 13 points in WSU's 69-49 loss at Oregon State, Feb. 28.
• Redshirt junior Que Johnson has become solid for Cougars late in the season as he led WSU in scoring against the Ducks, Feb. 24...however, sophomore Derrien King tied his career highs with 11 points and 3 made 3-pointers as he was the third Cougar in double figures.
• For the third time in four games, 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.
• 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 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 10 games this season.
• The Cougars are 7-3 this season when dishing out 15 or more assists.
• The Cougars have been out-assisted 12 times this season, all 12 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 0-19 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 2-34 when trailing at the half.
GET TO 80:
• Washington State has scored 80 or more points in eight games this season.
• The Cougars are 5-3 when scoring 80 or more points, including 1-2 when reaching the 90-point plateau.
• On the other side, WSU is 0-12 when its opponent scores 80 or more points.
• Under second-year head coach Ernie Kent, the Cougars are 14-3 when scoring at least 80 points in a game.
• The Cougars under Kent are 0-17 when scoring less than 60 points and 1-29 when scoring less than 70 points in two seasons.