COUGARS OPEN SEASON HOSTING TIGERS: 
• The Washington State men's basketball team (0-0) opens the 2017-18 season hosting Texas Southern (0-0), Sunday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. 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. 

WASHINGTON STATE IN SEASON OPENERS:
• The Cougars are 94-22 all-time in season openers and 55-8 when opening the season at home. 
• WSU has won every season opener when opening at Beasley Coliseum and its last 21 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 27-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.

ABOUT THE TIGERS: 
• Texas Southern is a member of the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC), located in Houston, Texas. 
• Sixth-year head coach, Mike Davis, has led TSU to the NCAA Tournament three of the last four seasons, and has captured the conference regular season championship four of his five seasons.
• The Tigers have also amassed 22 or more wins two of the last three seasons, including last year's 23-12 mark which ended in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament with a loss to North Carolina.
• Texas Southern will open the season at Gonzaga, Friday, Nov. 10, before heading down to the Palouse to take on WSU. 
• All 12 of the Tigers' nonconference games will be played on the road this season, as they head to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State, Friday, Nov. 16. 

COUGARS VERSUS TIGERS; SWAC:
• Sunday marks the third all-time meeting between Washington State and Texas Southern and the second in three years.
• The two teams last met Nov. 28, 2015, a 77-65 Cougar victory. 
• WSU is 19-0 all-time against members of the SWAC (Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Alcorn State, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M and Southern), with its most wins coming against Mississippi Valley State (4-0).
• The Cougars' last SWAC opponent was Texas Southern in 2015-16.

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 ENTERS 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 360 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:
• The Cougars host Seattle U for the first time since 1996, Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. and Idaho State, Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m., before hitting the road for the Wooden Legacy, Nov. 23-26.