QUICK HITS
• NATIONAL RANKINGS:
    • Scoring: CJ Elleby, 232nd (15.7 ppg).
    • Double-Doubles: Robert Franks, 63rd (5); CJ Elleby 144th (3).
    • Rebounding: CJ Elleby 161st (7.3).
    • Free Throw Pct: Marvin Cannon, 15th (.902).
    • Assist/Turnover Ratio: Team, 97th (1.17).
    • Assists: Team, 84th (15.1 apg).
    • Scoring: Team, 58th (79.7 ppg).
    • Field Goal Pct: Team, 99th (.466).
    • 3-Ptrs Per Game: Team, 47th (9.3 3fgpg).
• APPROACHING RECORD BOOKS:
    • With 22 points against San Diego, Dec. 22, Robert Franks became the 37th Cougar to reach the 1,000-point plateau...he now has 1,009 career points.
    • With 58 career blocks, Franks ranks 18th in WSU's career record books...six more (62) will put him in a tie for 17th. 
    • With 122 3-pointers, Viont'e Daniels ranks 18th on WSU's career list and needs just two to move into a tie for 17th.

COUGARS LOOK TO SNAP STREAKS: Washington State men's basketball (7-8, 0-2) looks to snap its five-game losing streak and nine-game losing streak to the Utes as it heads to Salt Lake City to take on Utah (7-8, 1-2), Saturday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. 
• The game will be televised on Pac-12 Network as Guy Haberman (play-by-play) and Matt Muehlebach (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 VERSUS UTES: 
• Saturday's matchup marks the 28th all-time meeting between Washington State and Utah, as the Utes hold a 23-4 advantage.
• Utah has won the last nine meetings in the series, scoring 81 or more points in six of the nine games, as each of the nine losses were decided by an average of 15.9 points.
• Last season the Utes swept the Cougars with an 82-69 win in Salt Lake City and a 77-70 victory in Pullman.
• WSU's last win in the series came at Pullman, Jan. 12, 2014, a 49-46 Cougar victory.
•The Cougars' only win at Utah came in the very first meeting between the two teams, a 45-44 win.

ABOUT THE COUGARS:
• WSU ended the nonconference season with a 7-6 record, including a perfect 7-0 at Pullman and 7-1 in home games (WSU played a home game at Spokane Arena against Santa Clara, Dec. 29), a 0-2 mark on the road and 0-3 in neutral-site games. 
• The Cougars fell in their first two Pac-12 games, both on the road, dropping to 7-8 and have lost five-straight.
• The Cougars have had some bad luck when it comes to health, as they've played 11 games without one of its major contributors (Robert Franks - four games missed, Viont'e Daniels - four games missed, Isaiah Wade - three games missed)...those games resulted in seven of WSU's eight losses.
• The 2018 Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, senior Robert Franks leads the Cougars this season with a team and previous Pac-12 best, 22.1 points, which ranked 21st in the country before he missed too many games to count in the rankings.
• Franks is adding a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game, which ranked sixth in the conference.
• He's missed four games this season due to injuries, WSU's loss at Seattle U, Nov. 14, WSU's loss to Santa Clara at Spokane, Dec. 29, WSU's loss at Washington, Jan. 5. and the loss at Colorado, Jan. 10. 
• Freshman CJ Elleby is the only other Cougar averaging double-figure points with 15.7 points per game, ninth-best in the Pac-12.
• Elleby is adding 7.3 rebounds per game, ranking sixth in the league. 
• Franks is one of five returnees for the Cougars as he's joined by seniors Viont'e Daniels and Davante Cooper and juniors Jeff Pollard and Carter Skaggs.
• Starters from the 2017-18 team, Skaggs and Daniels are averaging 8.5 and 7.1 points, respectively. 
• Daniels missed four games (Dec. 17, 19, 22 and 23) due to a concussion, but leads the team with 4.2 assists per game.
• Elleby is one of seven newcomers to the team.
• Junior college transfers Ahmed Ali and Jervae Robinson have split the point guard duties with Ali having started nine games and Robinson 5.
• Ali is tied for 15th in the Pac-12 with 3.0 assists per game, adding 8.3 points per game. 
•Sophomore junior college transfer, Marvin Cannon has progressed throughout the season, as he is second in the Pac-12 with a .902 (46-51) clip from the free throw line, 15th in the nation.
• He's scored in double figures in four of WSU's last seven games, including a career-high 23 against Rider, Dec. 17 and is averaging 6.9 points per game. 
•Junior Isaiah Wade, also a JC-transfer, started the season hot and is still getting back into the flow after missing three games due to an ankle sprain...he's averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds after his best performance since his injury, Jan. 10 at Colorado (12 points, 6 rebounds). 

SHORT HANDED:
• WSU has had one of its top contributors missing from the lineup in 11 of its 15 games this season.
• Senior Robert Franks missed WSU's loss at Seattle U, Nov. 14, due to soreness in his foot and its loss es to Santa Clara in Spokane, Dec. 29, Washington in Seattle, Jan. 5 and at Colorado, Jan. 10, due to a hip contusion. 
• Junior Isaiah Wade missed three games, games against Delaware State (Nov. 24), CSUN (Nov. 27) and a loss at New Mexico State (Dec. 1).
• Senior Viont'e Daniels has missed WSU's last four games against Rider (Dec. 17), SIUE (Dec. 19), San Diego (Dec. 22) and New Mexico State (Dec. 23) due to a concussion.

PUTTING UP POINTS:
• WSU is leading the league and ranks 45th nationally with 79.7 points per game. 
•The school record for scoring average in a season by a team is 83.5 set in 1995 in 30 games.
• The school record for points in a season is 2,688 set in 33 games in 1992. 
• WSU will play at least 31 games this season...if it continues to average 81.1 points and plays 31 games, it will finish with 2,470 points, 218 off the record. 

COUGS SET FREE THROW RECORD:
• WSU set the school record for free throws made, going 39-for-51 from the free throw line, Dec. 17 against Rider.
• The previous record was 38 against Santa Clara, Dec. 28, 1973.
•The school record for free throw attempts is 55 against Oregon, Feb. 14, 1953.

MIXING UP THE LINEUP:
• WSU has used 10 different starting lineups through 15 games this season.
• No Cougar has started all 15 games, but Franks has started all 11 he has played in.
• Freshman CJ Elleby has been the most consistent starter with 14 starts, including the last nine games.
• Junior Jeff Pollard has the third most starts with 10.

FRANKS REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU:
• Senior Robert Franks scored his 1,000th career point against San Diego, Dec. 22 at the Las Vegas Classic, becoming the 37th member of the WSU 1,000th-point club. 
• Franks currently has 1,009 points and ranks 36th in the WSU career record books.
• He's averaging 22.1 points per game...if he keeps up that average, he will finish with 1,451 points, ranking ninth in WSU's record books. 

FRANKS AND DANIELS EYE RECORD BOOKS:
• Senior Robert Franks is moving up the scoring record books, as well as the blocks list.
• Franks currently has 58 career blocked shots, ranking 18th in WSU's career record books.
• Viont'e Daniels has made 122 career 3-pointers is ranked 18th 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.

V FROM THREE:
• Senior Viont'e Daniels had made at least one 3-pointer in each of the last 25 games he's played in, dating back to Jan. 11, 2018 against Stanford, which was snapped Jan. 10, 2019 at Colorado.
• Daniels didn't score against the Buffaloes, marking his first scoreless game since Dec. 31, 2017 at USC.
• Over the last two seasons, there have been just six games that Daniels has not made a 3-pointer.
• Daniels has made 163 field goals in his career, 122 (75 percent) of those have been from beyond the 3-point arc.   

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.

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).