COUGARS CONTINUE HOMESTAND AGAINST BENGALS: 
• The Washington State men's basketball team (2-0) looks to continue its home-court advantage as it hosts Idaho State (0-2), Saturday, Nov. 18 at Beasley Coliseum.
• The game will be televised on Pac-12 Washington, as Greg Heister (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (analyst) will have the call.
• All season long, Cougar basketball can be heard on the Cougar IMG Sports Radio Network with the Voice of the Cougars, Matt Chazanow on the call. 
• Please see page one of today's notes for the list of affiliates. 
• Live stats are also available at www.wsucougars.com. 

ABOUT THE BENGALS: 
• ISU is a member of the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky), located in Pocatello, Idaho.
• Sixth-year head coach Bill Evans took over for Idaho State in 2012 after 15 seasons at Southern Utah.
• WSU has faced Evans's ISU teams three times (2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16), winning all three matchups.
• The Bengals are looking for their first win in 2017-18 after a 94-74 loss at Arizona State Nov. 10, and a 84-71 loss at home to Utah Valley Nov. 14.

COUGARS VERSUS BENGALS; BIG SKY:
• Wednesday marks the 10th all-time meeting between Washington State and Idaho State, as the last meeting came Nov. 20, 2015.
• WSU leads the all-time series 8-1, and has won the last six meetings. 
• The Cougars are 5-0 at home against the Bengals, 1-0 in neutral-site games and 2-1 in away games. 
• Idaho State is joined in the Big Sky by Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Weber State. 
• WSU has faced all but two (North Dakota and Northern Colorado) of the current members of the Big Sky, with an overall record of 353-158.
• WSU plays Palouse rival and Big Sky conference member Idaho at Moscow Dec. 6.

SKAGGS' 3-BALL LIFTS COUGARS TO WIN OVER SEATTLE U: 
• Sophomore Carter Skaggs had the half of his career, as he scored all 26 of his points in the second period on 7 3-pointers as WSU defeated Seattle U, 75-59, Nov. 15.
• At one point in the second half, Skaggs accounted for 17-straight WSU points, as he made 7-consecutive 3-pointers in the period. 
• Skaggs was 7-for-8 from 3-point range, the WSU record for 3-pointers made in a game is 9, originally set by current WSU assistant coach, Bennie Seltzer and last done by Derrick Low in 2006-07.
• Junior Viont'e Daniels scored a career-high 17 points…his previous high was 15 against Northern Arizona his freshman year, Nov. 13, 2015. 
• Daniels finished 6-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
• Graduate transfer Drick Bernstine made his Cougar debut, finishing with 4 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes.

COUGARS USE MASSIVE COMEBACK TO SAVE SEASON OPENER: 
• WSU erased a 22-point first-half deficit to defeat Texas Southern, 86-84, Nov. 12, in WSU's season opener at Beasley Coliseum.
• Junior Robert Franks scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and had his first career double-double. 
• Franks scored just 3 points in the first half and had 22 in the second before fouling out in the second half. 
• Franks also had a career-high 8 free throws made and attempted, shooting all 8 in the second half. 

WSU DEFEATS SAINT MARTIN'S IN EXHIBITION ACTION:
• Robert Franks put up 32 points and grabbed 10 boards as Washington State overcame a 13-point first-half deficit, to defeat Saint Martin's, 85-74, Nov. 5, in exhibition action at Beasley Coliseum. 
• Redshirt freshman Milan Acquaah, making his first appearance in a Cougar uniform, added 21 points and 5 assists off the bench for Washington State. 
• Sophomore Jeff Pollard led the team in rebounding with 11 boards, chipping in 6 points, an assist and a steal as a starter. 

COMEBACK KIDS:
• WSU has trailed at halftime in each of its two regular season games, and its exhibition game this season.
• The Cougars trailed Saint Martin's, 44-41, at the half in exhibition action, Nov. 5.
• They were behind, 42-24, to Texas Southern at halftime in their season opener, Nov. 12.
• Against Seattle U, Nov. 15, the Redhawks led the Cougars, 31-26.
• Washington State trailed by as many as 13 to Saint Martin's, 22 against Texas Southern and 10  against Seattle U. 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A HALF MAKES:
• Washington State is a different team in the second half compared to the first.
• It is averaging 48.5 points per game this season in the second half, compared to just 25.0 in the first.
• Washington State is allowing 29.0 points in the second half and 36.5 points in the first half.
• On top of that, WSU is shooting .431 (28-65) from the field and .485 (16-33) from 3-point range in the second half, compared to just .317 (19-60) from the field and .242 (8-33) from 3-point in the first half. 
• Carter Skaggs is the team's second-half scoring leader at 17.5, while Viont'e Daniels leads the first half scoring with 6.5 first-half points a game.
• The Cougars also have 14 more rebounds in the second half total this season with 49, compared to 35 in the first. 

WSU SIGNS ELLEBY DURING EARLY PERIOD: 
• Charles 'CJ' Elleby (6-6, 195, Forward, Seattle Wash./Cleveland High School) signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at WSU beginning in the fall of 2018.
• As a junior at Cleveland HS in 2016-17, Elleby averaged 23.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game en route to being named to the All-Metro League team for the third-straight season. 
• As a sophomore, Elleby averaged 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds while helping lead Cleveland HS to the 3A state tournament. 
• Heading into his senior season, Elleby has scored a total of 1,055 career points. 

FLYNN AND FRANKS SPEND SUMMERS PLAYING BALL:
• Sophomore Malachi Flynn was chosen as one of 28 of the nation's top 19-and-unders and was invited to attend the 2017 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Cup Team training camp, June 18-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, Colo. 
• Flynn did not qualify for the team, but spent several days training with team coaches, Kentucky head coach John Calipari, Colorado head coach Tad Boyle and Wake Forest head coach, Danny Manning. 
• Franks spent part of his summer in China as part of the USA Eagles' summer tour.
• Other former Cougars to compete in the China with the USA Eagles include Valentine Izundu (2015), Josh Hawkinson (2014) and DaVonté Lacy (2012).

ABOUT THE COUGARS: 
• With the graduation of four of its starters from 2016-17 and just three players who averaged 9 or more minutes a game returning, gelling is key for the 2017-18 Washington State men's basketball team. 
• One piece in place on fourth-year head coach Ernie Kent's squad is at point guard, where sophomore Malachi Flynn, the only returning starter, looks to expand upon where he left off as a freshman.
• Flynn was fourth on the team averaging 9.7 points, with a team second-best 2.9 assists per game last season, earning Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention. 
• Kent also expects break-through seasons from juniors Robert Franks and Viont'e Daniels, who averaged 16.4 minutes and 17.1 minutes per game last season, respectively, along with sophomore Jeff Pollard who averaged 8.5 minutes in 24 games.  
• Redshirt junior KJ Langston and senior walk-on Steven Shpreyregin also return for WSU.
• Fans will see three familiar faces, that didn't see any action on the court in 2016-17, but were a huge presence on the bench and in practice, in the Cougars' three redshirt freshmen, Milan Acquaah, Arinze Chidom and Jamar Ergas. 
• WSU's four scholarship newcomers come with a wealth of experience in graduate-transfer Drick Bernstine, and JC-transfers Davante Cooper, Kwinton Hinson and Carter Skaggs. 
• Bernstine will have one year of eligibility with the Cougars, Cooper and Hinson two apiece and Skaggs three.  
• Freshman walk-on TJ Mickelson also joins this year's squad.

KENT IN FOURTH YEAR: 
• 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 123 conference wins rank him 15th-best in Pac-12 history (including Pacific-8 and Pacific-10 Conferences). 
• His win, Feb. 18 against Arizona State moved him out of a tie for 15th with former UCLA coach Ben Howland.
• 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 tied 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 361 career wins, as he got his 350th win Nov. 19 against Montana at the Paradise Jam. 

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK STAFF: 
• Fourth Year WSU head coach, Ernie Kent, has a new look to his coaching staff for the 2017-18 season.
• With the departure of veteran assistant coaches, Greg Graham and Silvey Dominguez, Kent added former WSU standout and veteran coach, Bennie Seltzer (WSU, 1990-93) and well-known high school coach, Ed Haskins...Haskins' late-brother, Aaron Haskins, played basketball for the Cougars from 1980-83.
• Seltzer most recently served as an assistant coach at Loyola out of Chicago, Ill....prior to that, he was director of player performance at Indiana, head coach at Samford and an assistant coach at Indiana, Marquette and Oklahoma, respectively.
• Haskins came to the Palouse from Seattle where he was the head coach at Garfield HS...he led the team to the 3A State Championship in 2015 and the 4A State Championship in 2014, while being named the Coach of the Year four times.
• Former WSU student-athlete and grad assistant, Junior Longrus, earned his master's degree, making room for another new member of the staff, recruiting coordinator, Elwyn McRoy.

NEXT UP:
• WSU hits the road for the Wooden Legacy at Fullerton, Calif., Nov. 23-26. 
• First up is Saint Joseph's on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m.