WSU RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR AND PAC-12 PLAY AT WASHINGTON: The Washington State men's basketball team (7-5) opens Pac-12 play at Washington (7-5), Sunday, Jan. 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena...the game will be televised live on ESPNU.

COUGARS VS. HUSKIES:
• Sunday marks the 284th meeting between Washington and Washington State, as the Huskies hold a 181-102 advantage in the all-time series. 
• The road team has won two of the last three meetings between the Cougars and Huskies.
• Nine of the last 10 meetings between WSU and UW have been decided by 8 points or less, the exception being Washington's win at Seattle, Feb. 28, 2014...eight of those nine have been decided by 5 points or less.
• UW won six of those eight games decided by 5 points or less and seven of the nine games decided by 8 points or less.
• Third-year WSU head coach Ernie Kent is 11-20 all-time against Washington as head coach at WSU and Oregon. 

WASHINGTON STATE IN PAC-12 OPENERS:
• WSU is 16-32 all-time in conference openers beginning with the Pacific-8 Conference in 1968-69
• It is 0-5 in Pac-12 openers after the league expanded prior to the 2011-12 season.
• The Cougars are 2-18 in Pac-8, Pac-10 and Pac-12 conference openers on the road, its last road conference opening win was also its last conference opening win, Jan. 5, 2008, a 56-52 victory at Washington...WSU was ranked fourth at the time.
• Washington State is looking to snap its streak of seven-straight conference opening losses, as it hasn't won a league opener since the 2007-08 season.
• The Cougars are 3-6 against the Huskies in Pac-8, Pac-10 and Pac-12 openers and are 1-3 in those openers played at Seattle.
• The two teams last opened the conference season, Jan. 5, 2013, a 68-63 Cougar loss. 

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR:
• WSU is 7-4 all-time on New Year's Day, Jan. 1.
• Last season the Cougars fell to USC on Jan. 1, 90-77 at Beasley Coliseum. 

KENT STARTS GAME ON IDAHO BENCH:
• Cougar Head Coach Ernie Kent began the Dec. 7 game sitting next to Idaho coach Don Verlin on the Idaho bench, all in the name of helping to find a cure for cancer.
• Kent bid on an auction item donated by Idaho and Verlin – and won – at the 15th annual Coaches vs. Cancer Gala in Spokane, Sept. 24. 
• The 'Coach for a Day' package that Kent won, includes the chance to sit on the Idaho bench for the start of a game this season, in which Kent chose the Dec. 7 game at Pullman.
• Kent made his way to the Idaho bench shortly before tip...after WSU's first possession after winning the tip, he made his way back to the Cougar bench where he remained the rest of the game. 
• Both Kent and Verlin lost their father's to cancer, so the cause is a close one to the pair. 

PASSING THE POINT:
• Freshman Malachi Flynn started at point guard for the Cougars in their season opener, Nov. 11, against Montana State.
• He became the first Cougar freshman to start a season opener since his teammate, senior Ike Iroegbu started his first game, Nov. 9, 2013, a victory over CSU Bakersfield, also at point guard. 
• Flynn came one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 boards, adding 2 assists against the Bobcats.
• In his second career game, Flynn led the Cougars in scoring with 18 points against Central Washington.
• Flynn had his best game in the seventh of his career, Nov. 30 against Utah Valley.
• He finished with a career-high 27 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the field.
• His 27 points are the sixth-most in a single game by a WSU freshman and his 11 field goals are a freshman single-game record.
• Flynn is joined in the top-six for single-game freshman scoring by Isaac Fontaine, Klay Thompson, Steve Puidokas and Bennie Seltzer.
• Flynn has scored in double figures in eight of WSU's 12 games this season.

SHORT BENCH:
• The Cougars have been short manned during this nonconference season, as they were down to just eight players Saturday, Dec. 10 at Kansas State.
• Sophomore guard Viont'e Daniels missed four games due to a concussion, while freshman forward Jeff Pollard has missed three due to sickness...it was announced that junior guard Derrien King transferred at the end of the semester, as his last game was Dec. 7.
• Three Cougars are redshirting this season, freshmen Milan Acquaah, Arinze Chidom and Jamar Ergas.
• Against Kansas State, Dec. 10, walk-on, junior guard Steven Shpreyregin saw his first action with the Cougars, logging 10  minutes, while scoring 3 points. 

WSU AT THE 2016 PARADISE JAM:
• Washington State finished sixth at the 2016 Paradise Jam, held Nov. 18-21 at the University of the Virgin Islands at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
• WSU senior 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.
• Hawkinson was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 18.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in WSU's three games.
• Against Montana, Hawkinson had a career-high 29 points, adding 14 rebounds.
• In the process, Hawkinson scored his 1,000th career point to become the 35th Cougar to do so. 

BIG GAMES IN PARADISE:
• Washington State's starting big men, 6-10 forward Josh Hawkinson and 7-0 center Conor Clifford, both seniors, each had a 29-point game at the Paradise Jam.
• Clifford had his career night against No. 22 Creighton, setting career highs for points (29), field goals made (12), minutes played (28) and free throws made (5).
• Hawkinson had his the next day against Montana, setting a career high for points with 29, while grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds.

JOSH HAWKINSON EYEING RECORD BOOKS:
• Senior Josh Hawkinson has his eyes on several milestones and records at Washington State.
• With 829 rebounds, he is just 163 rebounds away from the WSU record set by Steve Puidokas from 1974-77, and just 171 away from becoming the 13th Pac-12 student-athlete to grab 1,000 rebounds in his career. 
• With 1,117 points, he became the 35th Cougar to score 1,000 career points, and currently ranks 23rd on WSU's career scoring list. 
• Over the last two seasons, Hawkinson averaged 15.1 points per game...if he continues that this season he will finish with 468 points this season and will finish his career with 1,403 points which would put him 12th in WSU's career scoring record books.
• Hawkinson is also just five double-doubles away from the school record, also held by Puidokas...as he's second with 48.

HAWKINSON MASTERS HIS CLASSES: 
• Senior Josh Hawkinson graduated with his business degree in the summer after just three years at WSU.
• He is currently working on his master's in business administration in WSU's one-year program. 

TOP OF THE PAC:
• Three different Cougars rank in the top five in the Pac-12 in six different categories:
    • Josh Hawkinson (rebounds per game, defensive rebounds per game, double-doubles, minutes played).
    • Conor Clifford (field goal percentage).
    • Malachi Flynn (3-point field percentage).
• Hawkinson is also top-20 nationally in four different categories: double-doubles, defensive rebounds per game, rebounds per game and total rebounds (14th).

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 354 career wins, as he got his 350th win Nov. 19 against Montana at the Paradise Jam. 

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.

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.
• 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. 

COUGARS BOND IN ITALY:
• The Cougar men's basketball team spent 10 days in August touring Italy as part of its 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.