COUGARS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE AT NO. 3/2 UCLA: Washington State men's basketball (13-16, 6-11) concludes its 2016-17 regular season schedule at No. 3/2 UCLA (27-3, 14-3), Saturday, March 4 at 7:15 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion...the game will be televised on ESPN.

COUGARS VERSUS BRUINS: 
• Washington State and UCLA are meeting for the 123rd time in the two schools' histories, as the Bruins hold a 105-17 advantage in the all-time series. 
• It is the two teams' second matchup of 2017, after then- No. 11 UCLA beat WSU 95-79 at Pullman, Feb. 1, 2017.
• WSU split the two meetings with UCLA last year, beating the then-No. 25 Bruins, 85-78, at Pullman the opening weekend of Pac-12 play, Jan. 3, 2016, before falling to the Bruins at Los Angeles, 83-50, Jan. 30, 2016.
• The Cougars have won three times in 59 tries at Los Angeles (UCLA leads 56-3).
• WSU has lost six-consecutive games to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. 
• The Cougars' last win at Los Angeles came Feb. 21, 2009...they defeated the then-No. 20 Bruins, 82-81.
• Third-year WSU head coach Ernie Kent is 12-19 all-time against UCLA as head coach at WSU and Oregon.

WSU AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS:
• UCLA is ranked third in this week's Associated Press Poll, marking WSU's sixth game against a  ranked opponent this season...UCLA joins Arizona as the only two  teams to be ranked in both league meetings with WSU this year.
• The Cougars are 49-232 all-time against top-25 ranked foes, 0-5 this season, and have lost seven-straight games to ranked opponents. 
• WSU's last win against a ranked opponent came last season, Jan. 3, 2016 against then-No. 25 UCLA.
• Washington State lost both meetings against then-No. 5 (Feb. 16) and then No. 7 (Jan. 26) Arizona, to then-No. 11 UCLA (Feb. 1), then-No. 15 Oregon (Jan. 7) and then-No. 22 Creighton (Nov. 18) this season, and then-No. 23 and then-No. 18 Arizona (Feb. 3, 2016 and Jan. 16, 2016) last season. 
• The Cougars' last win over a top-5 team came Feb. 16, 1980 against No. 4 Oregon State, 69-51.
• WSU is a combined 0-54 against top-3 teams.
• The Cougars are 5-67 all-time against Bruin teams ranked in the AP Top 25, with their last win over them being their last win over a ranked opponent. 
• WSU is 0-11 against the No. 3 team in the country and hasn't played the third-ranked team since Dec. 22, 2015, an 88-60 loss to Oklahoma at the Diamond Head Classic. 
• Washington State and UCLA have met twice with the Bruins ranked third...the Cougars lost both meetings in back-to-back seasons Feb. 22, 1974 (96-68) and Jan. 11, 1975 (77-69) at Los Angeles.
• The Cougars have won two of their last three games against ranked UCLA teams (Jan. 3, 2016, March 6, 2013).
• WSU's last win on the road against UCLA is also its only win against a ranked UCLA team on the road (82-81, Feb. 21, 2009, No. 20 UCLA).
• The Feb. 21, 2009 victory over UCLA also marks the Cougars' last road victory against a top-25 opponent.

SENIORS GO OUT IN STYLE:
• All four Cougar seniors (Charles Callison, Conor Clifford, Josh Hawkinson and Ike Iroegbu) scored in double figures on 'Senior Day' versus Washington, Sunday, Feb. 26.
• The seniors combined to score WSU's first 23 points, and all four scored before any other Cougar was able to log a point.
• WSU's late second-half 11-0 run was senior-powered, with free throws from Hawkinson, layups for Callison and Iroegbu, and a Hawkinson 3-pointer and layup.
• Clifford started the game a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor, and finished 6-for-9 with 12 points. 
• Iroegbu added 15 points (13 in the second half), Callison had 18, and Hawkinson led all scorers with 22 (18 in the second half).
• Callison also tied his career high in steals, with 5.
• All four of the Cougar seniors finished with double-digit career scoring averages against the Huskies.

HAWKINSON RE-WRITING RECORD BOOK:
•  Feb. 18, versus Arizona State, senior Josh Hawkinson tallied his 54th career double-double, passing Steve Puidokas (1974-77) for the school record.
• His 54 double doubles mark the highest active total across NCAA Division I.
•  He also has his eyes on several other milestones and records at Washington State.
• Feb. 4, versus USC, Hawkinson passed  Mark Hendrickson (1993-96) for second all-time on WSU's career rebounding list.
• With 989 rebounds, he is just 3 rebounds away from the WSU record (992) set by Steve Puidokas from 1974-77, and just 11 away from becoming the 13th Pac-12 student-athlete to grab 1,000 rebounds in his career. 
• Hawkinson is now 17th in the Pac-12 record books for career rebounds, and passed Todd MacCulloch of Washington (1996-99) and Channing Frye of Arizona (2002-05), after entering Sunday's game versus UW tied for the spot in the record books.
• Of the Pac-12's top-25 career rebounders, Hawkinson is one of five student-athletes to have grabbed 942 or more rebounds since the turn of the century.
• With 569 career Pac-12 rebounds, Hawkinson broke into the Pac-12's top-10 for career rebounds in conference games, his last time out versus USC. 
• With 1,386 points, he became the 35th Cougar to score 1,000 career points, and currently ranks 12th on WSU's career scoring list, after passing Joe Wallace (1984-87) last time out versus USC. 
• He is now 12th on the all-time scoring list, and needs 25 points to break into the school's top-10.
• He is also a block away from seventh all-time, currently in a three-way tie for eighth, with 93.

IROEGBU PASSES 1,000 POINT MARK: 
• Senior Ike Iroegbu scored 12 points, Jan. 7 versus Oregon, and became the 36th Cougar to score 1,000 in his career. 
• Iroegbu joins his classmate, Josh Hawkinson, as the second Cougar to reach the milestone this season, as Hawkinson scored the 1,000th point of his career, Nov. 19 against Montana.
• Iroegbu and Hawkinson are the first Cougar teammates to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the same season since then-seniors Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver reached 1,000 points during the 2007-08 season. 
• Iroegbu broke into the top-20 on WSU's career scoring list, Feb. 18, versus Arizona State...his 17 points helped him pass Terry ball (1960-62), who now sits in 20th on the list.
• He's also climbing up the assists list, having just passed Marty Giovacchini (1984-77) for eighth all-time with 372 career assists...9 away from Taylor Rochestie's (2007-09) seventh-place mark of 381.

IROEGBU IMPROVING IN PAC-12 PLAY: 
• Senior Ike Iroegbu has been a different player in the Cougars' most recent Pac-12 games.
• In his first six conference games, Iroegbu scored in double figures three times, averaging just 9.8 ppg (59 total points) on 20-of-45 shooting.
• In his last 11 Pac-12 games, Iroegbu has scored in double figures 10-of-11 times, averaging 15.9 ppg (175 total points) on 64-of-131 shooting.
• Iroegbu has scored 20 or more points in four of those 11 games (22 points-Feb. 4 & Jan. 29, 20 points-Feb. 1 & Jan. 21).
• He has dished out 59 assists to just 25 turnovers in his last nine Pac-12 games (a 2.36 assist-to-turnover ratio and an average of 5.4 apg). 
• In his first six Pac-12 games, he had a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, and average of 2.7 apg.

DANIELS THE DISTRIBUTOR:
• After notching a career-high four assists versus ASU, Feb. 18, sophomore Viont'e Daniels accomplished the feat again, last time out against USC.
• Twelve of his 32 assists on the season have come over the last four games, including 10 in his last three outings.

LATE-GAME RUNS GO COUGARS' WAY:
•  In WSU's conference victories versus Arizona State and Washington, the Cougars used late-game scoring runs, to put the games away.
•  Against ASU, Feb. 18, WSU trailed 69-65 with 7:41 to play.
    •  The Cougars finished the final 7:41 on a 21-2 run, to secure the 86-71 win. 
•  Versus Washington, Sunday, WSU trailed 64-60 when senior Josh Hawkinson stepped to the free throw line with 5:18 remaining.
    •  The Cougars went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:26, and finished the final five-plus minutes outscoring the Huskies, 19-7.
•  WSU shot 62.1 and 64.3 percent from the field, respectively, in each of those second halves.
•  WSU outscored ASU 43-22 and UW 48-40 in the second half, after not leading at the break in either game.
•  The Cougars average 37.0 points in the second halves of all games this season, as opposed to 33.3 points in first halves.

COMEBACK COUGS:
• Washington State eliminated a six-point halftime deficit (49-43), en route to its 86-71 win, Feb. 18 versus Arizona State. 
• It was the Cougars' fourth second-half comeback this season, and second time beating the Sun Devils after trailing at the break.
• In the game against ASU, the Cougars held the Sun Devils to just 22 points, a season-low for a WSU opponent this season.
• Prior to that game, ASU was averaging 41.1 points in the second half in Pac-12 games and had scored 40-plus points in the second half in 19 games this season.
• WSU's seven-point halftime deficit (40-33) at Washington, Jan. 1, 2017, was the largest overcome by the Cougars this season. 

SHARING THE WEALTH:
• The Cougars shot 59.3 percent  from the floor (season-best) Feb. 18 against Arizona State and dished out 28 assists. 
• The 28 assists were four-shy of the school-record 32 assists, and were the most since dishing out 28 assists, also against Arizona State, March 2, 1996.
• Freshman Malachi Flynn and  sophomore Viont'e Daniels each logged career highs in assists with 7 and 4 assists, respectively.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME:
• With the Feb. 18 win against Arizona State, the Cougars guaranteed  themselves a winning home record this season. 
• After the 79-71 win over rival Washington, Sunday, WSU completed the home portion of its schedule at 10-7.
• The finish marks the second above .500 home record for the Cougars under the direction of head coach Ernie Kent. 
• The Cougars were 8-6 at Beasley Coliseum during Kent's first season (2014-15). 
•  The 10 home wins are the most for WSU since owning an identical 10-7 home record in 2012-13...they also broke a streak of three-straight seasons with 8 home wins.
• Sunday's win versus UW also gave WSU four home conference wins for the second time in the past three seasons. 
• WSU won four home conference games just one time in the three years prior to Kent's arrival.

30-POINT SCORERS:
• Seniors Charles Callison and Josh Hawkinson each had their first 30-point scoring game this season.
• Callison scored 30 in WSU's win over Colorado, Jan. 21, then, two-games later, Hawkinson scored 31 in WSU's win at Arizona State, Jan. 29. 
• Callison became the first Cougar to score 30 points since DaVonté Lacy scored 31 against UTSA, Dec. 6 2014. 
• Callison and Hawkinson became the first Cougar duo to reach the 30-point plateau in the same season since Royce Woolridge scored 36  (Feb. 16) and Brock Motum scored 31 (March 9) in 2013. 
• Washington State is one of three Pac-12 schools to have at least two separate 30-point scorers in league play this season, being joined by UCLA (three) and Washington (two different players, although Markelle Fultz from Washington has scored 30-plus in three Pac-12 games)
• The Cougars also have four 25-point scorers this season and are one of three Pac-12 schools to have had four different players score 25 or more points in a game this season (Oregon and Stanford). 

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.
• 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-eight for single-game freshman scoring by Isaac Fontaine, Klay Thompson, Steve Puidokas, Bennie Seltzer, Milo McIver, and Marcus Moore.
• Currently Flynn is eighth on WSU's freshman list for scoring average with 10.3 points per game, just over 2 points behind Klay Thompson (2009) in fourth.
• In WSU's freshman class records, he's also fourth, behind Thompson, for 3-point field goal percentage (.404), sixth for assists average (2.9), sixth in total assists (86), and fourth in total 3-pointers made with 57 (two away from DaVonté Lacy's 2012 third-place mark of 59).
• So far this season, Flynn has started every game for the Cougars.
• Since 1972-73, only two WSU true freshman started every game they played that season.
• Klay Thompson started all 33 of the Cougars' games in 2008-09, while Mark Hendrickson started all 27 games for WSU in 1992-93.

HOT CONFERENCE START:
• The Cougars got their first win in a conference opener since 2007-08 when they defeated the Huskies, 79-74, Jan. 1, 2017.
• The last time WSU had won a conference opener was the Pacific-10 opener at Washington, Jan. 5, 2008.
• With WSU's win over Oregon State, Jan. 4, 2017, it moved to 2-0, marking the first time it had started 2-0 in league play since that same season, 2007-08.
• The Cougars defeated USC at Los Angeles, Jan. 10, 2008 to move to 2-0 that year. 
• This year the Cougars matched their record in their first three Pac-12 games (2-1) in Ernie Kent's first year as head coach...WSU went on to start 3-1 in league play that year. 
• The Cougars have already surpassed their win total from 2015-16 (nine) and quadrupled their Pac-12 win total from a year ago (one).

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:
• Five different Cougars rank in the top-15 in the Pac-12 in 12 different categories:
    • Josh Hawkinson (points per game, rebounds per game, field goal percentage, defensive rebounds per game, double-doubles, free throw percentage, minutes per game).
    • Conor Clifford (field goal percentage).
    • Malachi Flynn (3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goals made, minutes per game).
    • Ike Iroegbu (assists, assists average, assist/turnover ratio, minutes per game).
    • Charles Callison (steals, 3-point field goal percentage).
• Hawkinson is also top-25 nationally in four different categories: double-doubles (23rd), defensive rebounds per game (eighth), rebounds (22nd), and rebounds per game (19th).

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 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. 

JOSH HAWKINSON NAMED  KAREEM ABDUL-JABAR AWARD FINALIST:
• For the second-straight year, Josh Hawkinson has been named a finalist on the 20-member 2017 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award watch list.
• Feb. 3, it was announced that Hawkinson, made the mid-season list of 10 for the second-consecutive year.
• He was one of three Pac-12 student-athletes to be named to the list, and is one of two finalists, as he's joined by Thomas Welsh of UCLA.
• In March, five finalists will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, and the award will be presented April 7, 2017 at ESPN's College Basketball Awards, presented by Wendy's.

HAWKINSON A CANDIDATE FOR THE SENIOR CLASS AWARD:
• Senior Josh Hawkinson has been named one of 30 men's basketball candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. 
• To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
• In February, the 30 candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot.

KENT NAMED TO NCAA COMMITTEE:
• WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent was chosen to serve on the newly created Division I Men's Basketball Competition Committee which will report directly to the Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee in an advisory role.
• One student-athlete, two current head coaches, four Division I staff members and three members of the public with significant men's basketball experience will form the committee. 
• The committee also will have regular communication with the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee and will review student-athlete health and safety, sportsmanship and integrity, game operations and presentation, technology, and statistical trends. 
• The group will develop strategic principles in these areas, subject to the approval of the Men's Basketball Oversight Committee.
• This committee was announced Dec. 2, 2016. 
• The other coach on the committee joining Kent is Bob McKillop of Davidson College. 

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 including 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.

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 fathers to cancer, so the cause is a close one to the pair. 

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.