The Washington State University men's basketball team (0-0) opens the 2016-17 season hosting Big Sky opponent, Montana State (0-0), Friday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. The game is the first of a men's-women's doubleheader, as the Washington State women host Loyola Marymount in their season opener at 7 p.m. 
    
One ticket gets fans into both games, which fall on the eve of WSU's 23rd-ranked football team's game against California, Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Martin Stadium. 

WASHINGTON STATE IN SEASON OPENERS:
• The Cougars are 93-22 all-time in season openers and 54-8 when opening the season at home. 
• WSU has won every season opener when opening at Beasley Coliseum and its last 20 season openers at home.
• Its last home loss in the first game of the season came Dec. 1, 1972 against Houston, the final year the Cougars played in Bohler Gym.
• The Cougars have won 26-consecutive Beasley Coliseum openers (not necessarily the first game of the season, but the first at home), with their last loss coming to BYU, Dec. 3, 1987.

COUGARS VS. BOBCATS:
• Friday marks the 30th all-time meeting between Washington State and Montana State, as the Cougars lead the series, 22-7.
• The two teams haven't met since Dec. 13, 2008, as the Cougars defeated the Bobcats, 70-51 in the Cougar Hardwood Classic at Seattle's KeyArena. 
• The last time WSU and MSU played at Pullman was Nov. 19, 2004, a 59-42 Cougar victory. 
• The Cougars have won eight-straight against the Bobcats, their last loss coming Dec. 20, 1973, at Pullman. 
• Of WSU's seven losses in the series, just two came at Pullman, four at Bozeman and one in a neutral site. 

COUGARS VS. THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE: 
• Montana State is the first of two or three Big Sky conference teams that Washington State will face this season, as it will take on Idaho (Dec. 7) and possibly Montana in the second round of the Paradise Jam. 
• WSU is 278-158 all-time against current members of the Big Sky.
• The Cougars have faced the Vandals of Idaho the most, holding a 162-109 record against the border rival, while they haven't faced North Dakota or Northern Colorado. 
ABOUT THE COUGARS:
• Washington State returns seven letterwinners including three starters to the 2016-17 squad, led by two-time All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, Josh Hawkinson.
• Fellow seniors, guards Ike Iroegbu and Charles Callison, return as 2015-16 starters, while classmate, center, Conor Clifford also returns after starting 14 games last season.
• Junior Derrien King and sophomores Viont'e Daniels and Robert Franks round out the returnees for the Cougars.
• Seven newcomers join the WSU men's basketball program, led by Washington's 2015-16 4A Player of the Year, freshman guard Malachi Flynn.
• Sophomore guard KJ Langston and freshman forward Jeff Pollard look to contribute this season, while three freshmen are projected to use their redshirt seasons.
• Freshmen guards Milan Acquaah and Jamar Ergas and forward Arinze Chidom all look to use their redshirts, while walk-on junior guard Steven Shpreyregin may see minutes. 

KENT IN YEAR THREE: 
• 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. 

PASSING THE POINT:
• Freshman Malachi Flynn started at point guard for the Cougars in their exhibition game against Carroll College, Nov. 6. 
• If Flynn were to start Friday's season opener, he'd become the first Cougar freshman to start at point guard in a season opener since his teammate, senior Ike Iroegbu started his first game, Nov. 9, 2013, a victory over CSU Bakersfield. 

COUGARS BOND IN ITALY:
• The Cougar men's basketball team spent 10 days in August touring Italy as part of it's once every four years, international tour. 
• WSU started in Rome and worked its way up to Lake Como with stops in Florence, Pisa, Venice and Vicenza, visiting numerous historical sites along the way.
• The Cougars played five games, going 3-2 in those games. 
•Josh Hawkinson led the team with 18.6 points and 9.0 rebounds, Ike Iroegbu added 16.0 points and 7.2 assists a game, while freshman Malachi Flynn started all five games and averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 assists per game. 

WSU to Play in 2016 Paradise Jam:
• Washington State is one of eight teams that will participate in the 2016 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, Nov. 18-21, 2016, at the University of the Virgin Islands at St. Thomas.
• Washington State will be joined in the field by Creighton, Loyola (Ill.), Ole Miss, Montana, North Carolina State, Oral Roberts and Saint Joseph's. 
• WSU jsenior forward Josh Hawkinson has ties to the tournament as his father, Nels Hawkinson, started the tournament in 2000 after visiting the Virgin Islands on vacation. 
• The elder Hawkinson is the executive director of Basketball Travelers Inc., the company that puts on the Paradise Jam, as well as several other college and high school events, and foreign tours, including WSU's to Italy in 2016.

JOSH HAWKINSON NAMED TO KAREEM ABDUL-JABAR WATCHLIST:
• For the second-straight year, Josh Hawkinson has been named to the 20-member 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award watch list.
• Last season, as a junior, Hawkinson made the mid-season list of 10.
• He is one of three Pac-12 student-athletes to be named to the list, as he's joined by Chris Boucher of Oregon and Thomas Welsh of UCLA.
• By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award 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.

JOSH HAWKINSON EYEING RECORD BOOKS:
• Senior Josh Hawkinson has his eyes on several milestones and records at Washington State.
• With 700 rebounds, he is just 292 rebounds away from the WSU record set by Steve Puidokas from 1974-77, and just 300 away from becoming the 13th Pac-12 student-athlete to grab 1,000 rebounds in his career. 
• With 935 career points, he is just 65 points shy of becoming the 35th Cougar to score 1,000 career points. 
• Hawkinson is also just 13 double-doubles away from the school record, also held by Puidokas.
• He ranks 15th in WSU's record books for field goal percentage and is tied for ninth for career rebound average. 

WSU DEFEATS CARROLL COLLEGE IN EXHIBITION ACTION: 
• Senior Josh Hawkinson had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while his classmate, Ike Iroegbu added 14 points, as the Cougars defeated Carroll College, 78-70 in exhibition action, Sunday, Nov. 6 at Beasley Coliseum. 
• Freshman Malachi Flynn added 12 points, while junior Derrien King chipped in 11. 
• Senior Charles Callison led the team with 4 assists, adding 6 points. 
• The Cougars came back after trailing by 9, 35-26, at halftime, scoring 52 points in the second half.