QUICK HITS
• NATIONAL RANKINGS:
    • Scoring: Robert Franks, 25th (21.2); CJ Elleby, 208th (16.0 ppg).
    • Double-Doubles: Robert Franks, 110th (5); CJ Elleby 209th (3).
    • Rebounding: Robert Franks, 152nd (7.4); CJ Elleby 247th (6.7).
    • Free Throw Pct: Marvin Cannon, 16th (.899).
    • Assist/TO Ratio: Viont'e Daniels, 21st (3.06)
    • Assists: Team, 90th (14.7 apg).
    • Scoring: Team, 89th (77.0 ppg).
    • 3-Ptrs Per Game: Team, 55th (9.2 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 1,084 career points and ranks 25th.
    • With 61 career blocks, Franks ranks 18th in WSU's career record books...one more (62) will put him in a tie for 17th. 
    • With 131 3-pointers, Viont'e Daniels ranks 14th on WSU's career list and needs just one to move into a tie for 13th.

WSU LOOKS TO SNAP STREAK AGAINST USC SATURDAY: Washington State men's basketball (8-13, 1-7) looks to snap its four-game losing streak as it hosts USC (12-9, 5-3), Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
• The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network as Daron Sutton (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 VERSUS TROJANS: 
• Washington State and USC are meeting for the 123rd time in the two schools' histories, as the Trojans hold a 74-48 advantage in the all-time series. 
• The Cougars lead the series at home, 31-26, including a 1-1 mark at Spokane.
• WSU's last win at home came March 9, 2013, by the score of 76-51...WSU has lost three-straight at home to the Trojans.
• Then-senior Brock Motum and then-sophomore Royce Woolridge led the Cougars in that win with 31 and 25 points, respectively.
• The win completed WSU's last sweep of the L.A. schools and the first since the 1992-93 season.
• Like this season, USC and WSU met just once last season, an 89-71 USC victory at Los Angeles, Dec. 31. 
•  In that game last season, then-sophomore Carter Skaggs had a personal Pac-12 best 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting from 3-point range.
• The Cougars have dropped five-straight meetings with the Trojans and the last three at home.
• The Cougars' last win against USC was at Los Angeles, March 1, 2015 (70-66).    
• Fifth-year WSU head coach Ernie Kent is 15-17 all-time against USC as head coach at WSU and Oregon.

ABOUT THE COUGARS:
• WSU is 8-13 overall and 1-7 in Pac-12 playing, having lost four-straight games. 
• 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 have had some bad luck when it comes to health, as they've played 12 games without one of its major contributors (Robert Franks - five games missed, Viont'e Daniels - four games missed, Isaiah Wade - three games missed)...those games resulted in eight of WSU's 13 losses.
• The 2018 Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, senior Robert Franks leads the Cougars this season with a team and Pac-12 best, 21.2 points, which ranks 25th in the country.
• Franks is adding a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game, which ranks sixth in the conference.
• He's missed five 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, the loss at Colorado, Jan. 10 and the loss at Utah, Jan. 12.
• Freshman CJ Elleby is the only other Cougar averaging double-figure points with 16.0 points per game, tied for eighth-best in the Pac-12, and the most among Pac-12 freshmen.
• Elleby is adding 6.7 rebounds per game, ranking ninth in the league. 
• Elleby is averaging 16.6 ppg in Pac-12 games only, which is ninth and the second-most among Pac-12 freshmen.
• In Pac-12 only games, Elleby is averaging 3.4 assists per game which ranks tied for 14th 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 6.6 and 7.3 points, respectively. 
• Daniels missed four games (Dec. 17, 19, 22 and 23) due to a concussion, but leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.
• Daniels leads the league in assist/turnover ratio with a 3.06 mark, 21st in the nation.
• 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 15 games and Robinson 5.
• Sophomore junior college transfer, Marvin Cannon has progressed throughout the season, as he ranks second in the Pac-12 with a .899 (62-69) clip from the free throw line, 16th in the nation.
• He's scored in double figures in six of WSU's last 13 games, including a career-high 23 against Rider, Dec. 17 and is averaging 7.6 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 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds after back-to-back 12-point games at Colorado and Utah (Jan. 10 and 12), his best performances since his injury.

SHORT HANDED:
• WSU has had one of its top contributors missing from the lineup in 12 of its 21 games this season and nine of its 11 games away from Pullman.
• Senior Robert Franks missed WSU's loss at Seattle U, Nov. 14, due to soreness in his foot and its losses to Santa Clara in Spokane, Dec. 29, Washington in Seattle, Jan. 5, at Colorado, Jan. 10, due to a hip contusion and at Utah, Jan. 12.
• 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 missed four games against Rider (Dec. 17), SIUE (Dec. 19), San Diego (Dec. 22) and New Mexico State (Dec. 23) due to a concussion.

ELLEBY'S FRESH(MAN) START:
• Freshman CJ Elleby became just the second Cougar freshman in five years to start a season opener when he started against Nicholls State (Nov. 11).
• He has already scored 336 points which ranks sixth on WSU's freshman scoring list, just 3 points behind Mark Hendrickson (1993) in fifth.
• Elleby is on pace to score at least 496 points this season, which would break Steve Puidokas' freshman record of 454 points set in 1974…Klay Thompson is second on the list with 414 in 2009.
• His 16.0 points per game average is on pace to finish second in the WSU freshman record books.
• Elleby's 140 rebounds are the fourth most by a freshman.
• Elleby is on pace to finish with 207 rebounds which would rank third all-time in WSU's freshmen record books and would be the most by a freshman since Mark Hendrickson's 217 in 1993.

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.

GET TO 80:
• WSU has scored at least 80 points in all eight wins this season.
• WSU scored more than 80 points in just one loss, a 95-90 loss to Montana State, Dec. 9. 

MIXING UP THE LINEUP:
• WSU has used 10 different starting lineups through 21 games this season.
• No Cougar has started all 21 games, nor has anyone started every game they've played in.
• Freshman CJ Elleby has been the most consistent starter with 20 starts, including the last 13 games.
• Junior Jeff Pollard has the second-most starts with 16, while Robert Franks has started 15 of the 16 games he's played.

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 1,105 points and ranks 25th in the WSU career record books.
• He's averaging 21.2 points per game...if he keeps up that average, he will finish with 1,317 points, ranking 15th 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 61 career blocked shots, ranking 18th in WSU's career record books.
• Viont'e Daniels has made 131 career 3-pointers is ranked 14th 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 ADD MIDSEASON TRANSFER: 
• Chance Moore (6-7, 210, Guard/Forward, Louisville, Ky./Sunrise Christian Academy/Wichita State) signed a financial aid agreement and has joined the Washington State men's basketball team after transferring from Wichita State.
• Will redshirt the next two semesters due to NCAA transfer rules, before being eligible to play the spring semester of the 2019-20 season as a sophomore.
• Moore played four games for Wichita State as a freshman in the fall of 2018, averaging 5.0 minutes per game.

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 128 conference wins rank him 15th-best in Pac-12 history (including Pacific-8 and Pacific-10 Conferences)....needing just four (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).