QUICK HITS
• NATIONAL RANKINGS:
    • Scoring: Robert Franks, 10th (24.3 ppg).
    • A/TO Ratio: Viont'e Daniels, 20th (3.89).
    • Defensive Rebounds: Robert Franks, 57th (6.33 drpg); CJ Elleby, 129th (5.71 drpg).
    • Rebounding: Robert Franks, 71st (8.7 rpg); CJ Elleby, 102nd (8.1 rpg).
    • Assists: Viont'e Daniels, 70th (5.0 apg).
    • Double-Doubles: Robert Franks, 47th (3); CJ Elleby, 92nd (2).
    • Field Goal Pct.: Robert Franks, 99th (.553); CJ Elleby, 250th (.462).
    • Fewest Fouls: Team, Ninth (109).
    • Fewest Turnovers: Team, 19th (81).
    • Turnovers Per Game: Team, 45th (11.6).
    • Assist/Turnover Ratio: Team, 23rd (1.51).
    • Assists: Team, 25th (17.4 apg).
• APPROACHING RECORD BOOKS:
    • With 912 points, Robert Franks needs 88 points to reach 1,000 career points.
    • With 56 career blocks, Franks ranks tied for 18th in WSU's career record books...eight more (62) will put him in a tie for 17th. 
    • With 117 3-pointers, Viont'e Daniels ranks 20th on WSU's career list and needs just two to move into a tie for 19th (119).

COUGARS HEAD TO THE TRI-CITIES TO HOST BOBCATS: The Washington State University men's basketball team (5-2) will travel to Kennewick, Wash., to host Montana State (2-6), Sunday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. at the Toyota Center.
• The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network as Greg Heister (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (analyst) 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. 

COUGARS VS. BOBCATS:
• Sunday marks the 31st all-time meeting between Washington State and Montana State, as the Cougars lead the series, 23-7.
• The two teams last met Nov. 11, 2016, the 2016-17 season opener, at Pullman…the last time WSU hosted MSU at a neutral site was Dec. 13, 2008, as the Cougars defeated the Bobcats, 70-51 in the Cougar Hardwood Classic at Seattle's KeyArena. 
• The Cougars have won nine-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. 
• WSU has a 15-2 advantage all-time in home games and the series is tied 1-1 at neutral sites.

WSU VERSUS THE BIG SKY:
• Montana State is a member of the Big Sky Conference and is joined by Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, and Weber State. 
• WSU has faced all but one (Northern Colorado) of the current members of the Big Sky, with an overall record of 355-159.
• Montana State is the second of two-straight Big Sky teams the Cougars will face this season, as they defeated Idaho, 90-70, Dec. 5 at Pullman's Beasley Coliseum. 

ABOUT THE COUGARS: 
• WSU is 5-2 overall, 5-0 at home and 0-2 on the road after winning its season opener over Nicholls, 89-72, Nov. 11, falling at Seattle U, 78-69, Nov. 14, and defeating Cal Poly, 84-70 Nov. 19, Delaware State (80-52) Nov. 24, CSUN, 103-94, Nov. 27, a 69-63 loss at New Mexico State and a 90-70 victory over Idaho, Dec. 5. 
• Senior forward Robert Franks missed WSU's game at Seattle U after putting up 31 points against Nicholls in the opener. 
• Franks has reached the 20-point plateau in five of the six games he's played this season as he added 30 against Cal Poly, 24 against Delaware State, 22 against CSUN and 22 against Idaho.
• Franks has also has three double-doubles and is adding 8.7 rebounds per game along with his Pac-12 leading 24.3 points per game, which ranks 10th nationally.
• Junior Isaiah Wade is averaging 10.5 points after putting up a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds at Seattle U in just his second game as a Cougar...he missed WSU's games against Delaware State, CSUN and New Mexico State. 
• Freshman CJ Elleby is the only other Cougar in double figures with 13.6 points...he's adding 8.1 rebounds per game.
• Elleby had his first career double-double Nov. 27 with career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds and is averaging 8.1 rebounds on the season...he added his second double-double in the next game, Dec. 1 with 18 points and 10 boards.
• Senior Viont'e Daniels leads the team and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 70th nationally with 5.0 assists per game. 
• Daniels leads the league and ranks 20th nationally with a 3.89 assist/turnover ratio…he has 35 assists and 9 turnovers. 
• This season WSU returned three starters, including three of its four top scorers from the 2017-18 squad, in Ernie Kent's fifth year at the helm.
• Seniors Robert Franks and Viont'e Daniels look to lead the team, which features seven newcomers after putting up their best seasons in 2018-19, averaging 17.4 and 9.0 points, respectively. 
• Franks' big season was capped by being named the Pac-12's Most Improved Player of the Year, which led to him to declare for the NBA Draft, only to withdraw his name prior to the deadline. 
• Daniels was second on the team with 71 made 3-pointers and he, along with Franks and fellow-starter Carter Skaggs, combined for 206 of the team's school-record 341 3-pointers in 2017-18. 
• Senior Davante Cooper, junior Jeff Pollard and redshirt sophomore Arinze Chidom also return for Washington State in 2018-19.
• The Cougars look to fill the void at point guard with two junior college transfers in juniors Ahmed Ali and Jervae Robinson. 
• Ali joins WSU after putting up big numbers, most recently at Eastern Florida State College, where he averaged 16.9 points and 4.8 assists per game in two seasons, while shooting .426 (230-for-540) from 3-point range on route to earning NJCAA Division I All-America second team honors as a sophomore. 
• Robinson comes to the Palouse from Otero Junior College.
• With just six returnees for the Cougs, WSU is looking for immediate impacts from several newcomers, including Iowa Western CC-transfer, Isaiah Wade, who was an NJCAA All-America nominee as a sophomore after averaging 12.1 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. 
• Freshman and Washington-native, CJ Elleby also joins the Cougars after picking up all-State honors each of his final three years at Cleveland HS in Seattle. 
• Freshman Aljaž Kunc and junior college transfers, sophomore Marvin Cannon and walk-on junior James Streeter also join the 2018-19 squad.

LAST OUTING:
• WSU defeated border-rival Idaho, 90-70, Dec. 5 at Beasley Coliseum. 
• Freshman CJ Elleby had his second 20-point game in three games with 20 points…he was 2 rebounds shy of his third-straight double-double with 8 rebounds.
• Elleby was 7-for-14 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
• Senior Robert Franks eclipsed the 20-point plateau with a game-high 22 points…it marks the fifth time in six games he's played this season that he's scored 20 or more points.
• Franks' blocked shot moved him into a tie for 18th in WSU's career record books with 56 career blocks.
• Senior Viont'e Daniels did not start for the first time since the 2016-17 season, his sophomore season.
• Daniels had a career-high 9 assists to 0 turnovers…his previous high was 8 done against Cal Poly, Nov. 19…he added 6 points, 6 rebounds and a blocked shot.
• Junior Jervae Robinson had his second-straight game in double figures with 10 points.
• Junior Isaiah Wade returned to action after missing the previous three games due to injury…he had 3 points in 16 minutes.
• WSU had a season-low 4 turnovers, marking the fewest since it had 3 against Stanford, Jan. 31, 2015…WSU had just 1 turnover in the second half.

FRANKS NAMED TO JULIUS ERVING WATCH LIST:
• Senior Robert Franks is one of five Pac-12 student-athletes named to the 20-member 2019 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Watch List.
• The list will be cut down to 10 in February and the five finalists will be narrowed down in March, with the winner being announced April 12, 2019.

FRANKS AND DANIELS EYE RECORD BOOKS:
• With 912 career points, Robert Franks needs just 88 points to become the 37th WSU men's basketball student-athlete to score 1,000-career points.
• Franks scored 521 points by averaging 17.4 points per game as a junior...if he can continue at that pace, he will finish with 1,287 points which would put him 16th on WSU's all-time scoring list. 
• Viont'e Daniels has made 117 career 3-pointers which ranks 20th on WSU's career list...if he can repeat his 71 made 3-pointers from his junior campaign, Daniels would finish his Cougar career with 172 3s, ranking ninth all-time.

COUGARS SIGN THREE:
• Daron (Duh-ron) Henson, Ryan Murphy and Nigel John each signed an NLI to join WSU men's basketball next season. 
• Daron Henson (6-7, 210, Small Forward, Pasadena, Calif./Salt Lake CC) is in his first season with Salt Lake Community College after two seasons at Utah State...Henson redshirted his freshman season in 2016-17 before appearing in 33 games, including one start in 2017-18. 
• He averaged 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds a game for the Aggies as a redshirt freshman. 
• Four games into the 2018-19 season, Henson is averaging 14.0 points while shooting .429 from the field and adding 6.3 rebounds per game. Henson will enter the WSU program as a redshirt junior.
• Ryan Murphy (6-2, 190, Guard, Calabasas, Calif./New Mexico Junior College) is in his first season at New Mexico Junior College where he's averaging 17.2 points per game in six games in the 2018-19 season. 
• Murphy transferred to NMJC from Charlotte where he redshirted as a freshman in 2016-17. He averaged 6.7 points per game in 19 games as a redshirt freshman in 2017-18 before an injury cut his season short at 19 games. 
• He shot .400 (32-for-80) from beyond the arc in 2017-18.
• Nigel John (6-9, 250, Center, Allen Texas/Lakeland Christian Academy) comes to WSU from Lakeland Christian Academy in Texas. 

KENT IN FIFTH 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 127 conference wins rank him 15th-best in Pac-12 history (including Pacific-8 and Pacific-10 Conferences)....needing just five (132) to catch Howard Dallmar of Stanford (1955-75) for 14th. 
• His win, Feb. 18, 2017, 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.
• 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 378 career wins as a head coach.

MARRION PROMOTED TO ASSISTANT COACH: 
• Fifth-year head coach, Ernie Kent, elevated Tim Marrion from coordinator of operations to assistant coach for the 2018-19 season.
• Marrion is currently in his third full-time stint with the WSU men's basketball program, as he returned to his alma mater in September of 2016 to assume the role of coordinator of basketball operations. 
• He previously served on the WSU men's basketball staff as the team's director of player development under then-head coach Ken Bone, during the 2013-14 season. 
• Prior to that, he was the coordinator of operations for Cougar basketball from spring of 2009 until the summer of 2012.
• Kenny Tripp joined the staff as coordinator of operations after one year as an assistant coach for Division II Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2017-18. 
• Prior to his stint with the Roadrunners, Tripp served as a graduate assistant for the men's basketball program at Division II Regis University at Denver, Colo., for two years (2015-17).

NEXT UP:
• WSU takes a week off competition before hosting Rider and SIU Edwardsville in the first and second rounds of the Las Vegas Classic, Dec. 17 and 19, respectively.