Washington State University Athletics

Cougs Open Tourney with Alaska-Fairbanks.

November 17, 1998

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State makes just its second-ever appearance in the nation's 49th state, traveling north to Alaska for the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks. WSU will face host Alaska-Fairbanks in the opening round Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (9:30 p.m. PST) in a game that will be televised live nationally on Fox Sports Net.

WSU IN ALASKA: WSU's only previous trip to Alaska came during the 1981-82 season when George Raveling's squad finished fourth at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The Cougars defeated host Alaska-Anchorage 83-66 in the opening round, before falling to Southwest Louisiana 72-59 in the semi-finals and Iona 71-48 in the third-place game.

WSU is 3-0 all-time versus teams from the state of Alaska, having defeated UA-Anchorage once in Alaska and twice in Pullman. The Cougars most recently faced a team from the Last Frontier in 1994, when Kelvin Sampson's NCAA-bound team stopped Alaska-Anchorage 86-63.

WSU IN TOURNAMENTS: This is the 16th straight season that WSU has played in a preseason tournament. Last year, WSU finished seventh at the San Juan Shootout. The Cougars last won a tournament during the 1993-94 season when Isaac Fontaine led WSU to victories over Coppin State, Michigan State and Marquette for the San Juan Shootout title.

Tournament Facts

Thursday, November 19, 1998-
Sunday, November 22, 1998
Carlson Center (5,500)

Radio: The Crimson & Gray Sports Network will broadcast all WSU games on its 16-station network with Bud Nameck (6th season) calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts are also available via the Internet, www.broadcast.com

Television: Fox Sports Net will show the WSU-Alaska-Fairbanks game live at 9:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. Alaska Standard Time). Fox Sports Net will also broadcast Sunday's championship game live at 2:00 p.m. PST (1:00 p.m. AST).

Records: Washington State is 1-0 on the season after a 91-78 win against Central Washington Monday night. Alaska-Fairbanks is 2-0 on the year after pounding Pillsbury Baptist (Minn.) twice last weekend by scores of 123-56 and 113-54.

Series History: WSU is 8-11 versus the Top of the World field. The Cougars are 1-0 against Arkansas (a 64-53 win in the 1941 NCAA tournament semi-finals), 2-5 versus Nebraska, 1-1 against Villanova, 0-1 versus Virginia (a 54-49 loss to Ralph Sampson in the 1983 NCAA tournament) and 4-4 against Wisconsin (including a 39-34 loss in the 1941 NCAA title game). The Cougars have never faced Alaska-Fairbanks or New Mexico State

On Deck: WSU returns to the State of Washington for a meeting with Inland Empire rival Gonzaga on Saturday, November 28 at the Spokane Arena.

WSU NEARS 200th WIN AT BEASLEY: WSU has experienced great success at Beasley Coliseum's Friel Court. Beginning with an 80-78 WSU victory against Louisiana State on December 1, 1973, the Cougars have won nearly two-thirds of the games they have played there (.648). WSU collected win No. 199 in this season's opener versus Central Washington. The Cougars have a 199-108 all-time record at Beasley and will try for No. 200 December 2 when the Portland State Vikings visit Pullman.

EASTMAN NEARS 200 VICTORIES: Kevin Eastman is in his fifth season as head coach at WSU. He has a 60-59 (.504) four-year record. Among Cougar coaches with at least a four-year tenure, Eastman's winning percentage ranks fourth, just ahead of Kelvin Sampson's .500 (103-103/1988-94). The New Brunswick, N.J., native's winning percentage trails only three WSU coaching legends, Jack Friel's .568 (495-377/1929-58), Fred Bohler's .561 (226-177/1909-26) and George Raveling's .551 (167-136/1973-83)

Overall in 11 years as a head coach, Eastman holds a 184-134 (.579) record. Included in that are a 65-22 mark at Belmont Abbey and a 59-53 mark at UNC-Wilmington.

Eastman is 0-1 versus the Top of the World Classic field. His only game was an 82-73 loss to Nebraska in the second round of the 1996 NIT.

WSU WINS OPENER AGAIN: By beating Central Washington for 91-78 Monday night, WSU now holds an 80-18 all-time record in season openers and has won the past 10. The Cougars have won 25 of their last 26 season-opening games; the only blemish during that span was a 64-63 loss to Gonzaga in the 1988 Rosauers/ Alpo Inland Northwest Classic at Spokane.

WSU is now 82-16 all-time in home openers, having won 11 straight dating back to a 60-54 loss to Brigham Young in 1988. The Cougars are also 23-3 all-time in home openers at Beasley Coliseum and have won 10 straight since that 1988 loss to BYU.

CENTRAL RECAP: Five Cougars scored in double digits as WSU stopped 91-78 Monday night at Beasley Coliseum. Jan-Michael Thomas came off the bench to score 22 points, hitting four-of-six three-pointers. Chris Crosby added 18 points, while Mike Bush had 14. WSU shot .588 from three-points land (10-17).

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE: Washington State is again playing a challenging schedule. Including tournaments, the Cougars have nine games against teams ranked in the preseason polls (Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Arizona - twice; Arkansas - once) and 15 games versus teams that played in the 1998 postseason (NCAA: Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Arizona - twice; Arkansas, Detroit and Nebraska - once; NIT: Arizona State - twice - and Gonzaga; NAIA: Central Washington).

THE PENGELLY IS MIGHTIER THAN: Junior guard Blake Pengelly is climbing WSU career lists in assists and three-point shooting. He currently ranks ninth in assists with 208 (47 behind No. 8 Anthony Kidd), second in three-point field goal percentge at .429 (behind No. 1 Isaac Fontaine, .457), ninth in three pointers made with 90 (three behind No. 8 David Sanders) and 11th in three-pointers attempted with 210 (one behind No. 10 Darryl Woods). Junior Chris Crosby is also making his presence known on the three-point charts. Here's a look at where Pengelly and Crosby rank: