Washington State University Athletics

Men's basketball squad begin against No. 11 UCLA, USC.

January 26, 1999

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State returns to Friel Court to open a four-game homestand when No. 11 UCLA visits snow-covered Pullman Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. The homestand continues Saturday in a 5:06 p.m. game versus USC that will be televised live on Fox Sports Northwest. The Cougars are 4-1 at home this season.

WSU-UCLA SERIES: Bruins lead 74-12. In the 1990s: Bruins lead 17-1. UCLA has won 11 straight in this series, dating back to a 67-56 Cougar win at Pullman in 1993. The Bruins have also won 19 of the last 20 meetings between the two schools. Last year, the Bruins swept 88-68 in Los Angeles and 78-75 in Pullman. The UCLA-WSU series has produced some of the most classic games in Cougar history. Two of the four triple overtime games in WSU history have come against the Bruins (both in Pullman) and the 1983 game at Friel Court ranks among the all-time great Cougar wins. Bryan Pollard's tip-in at the buzzer gave WSU a 70-68 upset of the sixth-ranked Bruins and sent the Friel Court record crowd of 12,422 into a frenzy. The last three WSU-UCLA games played at Friel have been decided by a total of nine points. In fact, 27 of the 43 WSU-UCLA games played in Pullman have been decided by 10 points or less. 12 of the last 14 contests have been decided by eight points or fewer. The series dates back to a 33-23 WSU win in 1937.

WSU-USC SERIES: Trojans lead 53-31. In the 1990s: Trojans lead 12-7. USC has had relative success in Pullman of late, winning two of the last three games played there. The two teams split last season with WSU winning 78-71 in Pullman and USC winning 75-69 in Los Angeles. Prior to last season, USC had won two straight at Friel (83-81 in 1996; 92-85 in 1997). This series has produced close games of late; five of the last six have been decided by seven points or less. Prior to 1996, it was a series of blowouts with 10 of the previous 12 games being decided by 12 points or more. The series dates back to a 55-52 WSU win in 1949.

This Week
at Friel Court
at Beasley Coliseum (12,058)

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

No. 11 UCLA at WSU
Thursday, January 28
7:05 p.m. PST

Television: None.

Records: WSU is 8-10 overall (2-5 Pac-10) on the year after losing a pair of games in the Bay Area last week -- 94-45 to No. 3 Stanford and 75-68 to California. UCLA is 14-4 overall (5-2 Pac-10) after a pair of impressive road wins last week -- 98-80 against USC and a 72-60 come-from-behind decision at Louisville. Bruin guard Baron Davis was named Pac-10 player of the week for the second time this season.

USC at WSU
Saturday, January 30
5:06 p.m. PST

Television: Fox Sports Northwest will televise the USC-Washington State game live regionally. Rich Waltz and Dave Harshman are the announcers.

Records: USC enters the weekend tied with WSU with identical 2-5 Pac-10 marks. The Trojans are 10-6 overall and have lost four in a row, including last week's 98-80 decision to UCLA. USC plays at Washington Thursday night.

On Deck: The Cougars four-game homestand continues with Arizona State Thursday, February 4, and No. 12 Arizona on Saturday, February 6.

EASTMAN NEARS 200 VICTORIES: Kevin Eastman is in his fifth season as head coach at WSU. He has a 67-69 (.492) five-year record. Among Cougar coaches with at least a four-year tenure, Eastman's winning percentage is fifth, just behind Kelvin Sampson's .500 (103-103/1988-94). The New Brunswick, N.J., native's winning percentage also trails three WSU coaching legends: Jack Friel .568 (495-377/1929-58), Fred Bohler .561 (226-177/1909-26) and George Raveling .551 (167-136/1973-83).

Overall in 11 years as a head coach, Eastman holds a 191-144 (.570) record. Included in that are a 65-22 mark at Belmont Abbey and a 59-53 mark at UNC-Wilmington.

Eastman is 0-8 all-time versus UCLA and 2-6 all-time against USC.

WSU WINS 200th AT FRIEL COURT: Washington State's 74-71 victory December 2 against Portland State was the Cougars' 200th all-time win at 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 (.652). WSU has a 202-108 all-time record in Beasley. The Cougars average 80.4 points per game at home, compared to 74.1 ppg away from Pullman. WSU is 4-1 at Friel Court this season with wins over Central Washington (91-78), Portland State (74-71), BYU (70-69) and Oregon State (84-79) and the triple-overtime loss to Oregon (87-83). Milestone wins at Friel:

No. 1	WSU 80, LSU 78, 12/1/73
No. 3	WSU 71, USC 56, 1/5/74 (first league win)
No. 25	WSU 77, Cal 63, 1/8/77
No. 50	WSU 77, USC 57, 1/24/80
No. 100	WSU 75, Oregon 71, 2/14/86
No. 150	WSU 95, Oregon 79, 1/21/93
No. 200	WSU 74, Portland State 71, 12/2/98

The streak began with a 112-81 win over BYU-Hawaii in the first game of the 1990-91 season. WSU's 41 wins include 36 at Friel and five at Bohler Gym (all during the 1990-91 season). The streak also includes NIT victories in 1992 (Minnesota), 1995 (Texas Tech) and 1996 (Gonzaga).

AIRWOLF THOMAS STRIKES AGAIN: Junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas has been WSU's most consistent source of offense during his last five games and is the only Cougar to hit double figures in all five contests. During that span, Thomas is averaging 21.4 points per game with a career high of 34 at Arizona.

AIR FORCE: Junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas has really been impressive from beyond the arc. The Cougar gunman ranks fourth nationally in three-point field goals made per game at 3.7 (the national leader is Brian Merriweather of Texas-Pan American at 4.7 per game).

Jan-Michael, who was named after actor Jan-Michael Vincent, most recently tied the Oakland Arena college mark with five treys in WSU's loss to California last Saturday.

The Inglewood, Calif., native set McKale Center and Arizona opponent records when he nailed eight threes at Tucson January 7. Thomas scored a career-high 34 points versus the Wildcats.

He also set Sun Classic and Don Haskins Center records when he buried eight three pointers in WSU's first round loss to UTEP on December 28. His first record of the season came at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, when he netted a tournament-record seven treys versus Nebraska.

THOMAS EYES SEASON MARK: At his current pace of 3.71 three-point baskets per game, Jan-Michael Thomas would record 104 treys during the regular season (28 games; he missed the Arizona State game with the flu), which would easily shatter the Cougar single-season record of 83 set by Eddie Hill in 1994. Thomas could challenge the Pac-10 record of 114 set by Arizona's Steve Kerr in 1988.

With 63 treys on the season, he has already entered the WSU single-season top 10. He not only entered the list during the Cal game, but passed Shamon Antrum (59/1995), Darryl Woods (59/1990) and Bennie Seltzer (62/1990). He's currently tied with Terrence Lewis (1991) for seventh. Next up is No. 6 Isaac Fontaine with 66 in 1996.

As a team, the Cougars lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.390) and rank second with 7.56 three-pointers made per game. WSU is also on pace to break the school record of 221 three-point goals set in 1994.

THOMAS NAMED PAC-10 POTW - Junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week on December 14 for his performance in the Cougars' 70-69 win against Brigham Young December 8 in Pullman.

Thomas scored 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. He converted three of his final four free throw attempts, including the game-winner with nine seconds remaining. Thomas, a native of Inglewood, Calif., is among the Pac-10 leaders in three-point field goal pct., having connected on 63 of 137 attempts (.460). It was the first career award for Thomas and the first Pac-10 player of the week award for WSU since Mark Hendrickson was honored on January 23, 1995. It is the Cougars' 13th all-time player of the week award.

ROOKIES RACK UP STATS: Washington State's three new players -- junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas, sophomore forward Eddie Miller and freshman guard Mike Bush -- have made quite an impact on the Cougar basketball squad. Combined, the trio accounts for 44 percent of WSU's total scoring (33.4 ppg), 54 percent of its three-point baskets and 42 percent of its total steals.

Thomas leads WSU in scoring (16.1 ppg), three-pointers (63), three-point FG Pct. (.460) and free throw percentage (.850). In fact, Thomas ranks second in the Pac-10 in free throw percentage. Miller leads the Cougars in field goal percentage (.578) and ranks second in rebounding (5.2 rpg) and fourth in scoring (10.7 ppg). Bush paces the Cougs with 33 steals this season and is the only newcomer who has played in all 18 games. Bush is also second among Pac-10 freshmen with 1.83 steals per game.

MILLER GRINDING AWAY INSIDE: Sophomore forward Eddie Miller has been right on the money from the field of late. He has connected on 50 percent or better of his field goal attempts in nine of his last 10 games. Miller is shooting 58 percent (36-62) during that span, punctuated by his career-high 20 points Saturday against Oregon State.

For the season, Miller leads WSU with a 57.8 percent field goal average, which would rank third in the Pac-10 if he had the minimum requirement of four FGM per game (he's currently five FGM shy). In 16 games, Miller has shot below 50 percent just three times -- his very first game versus Central Washington (1-3), Brigham Young (5-12) and Stanford (2-6).

CLOSE ONES GO WSU'S WAY: Last year, WSU was 2-9 in games decided by seven points or less. This season in that same category, WSU is 4-2 with a pair of one-point victories.

WSU VS. RANKED OPPONENTS: No. 11 UCLA is the third ranked opponent WSU will face in 1998-99. The last time WSU defeated a ranked opponent was February 22, 1997, when the Cougs beat No. 25 Cal 89-87.

The last time WSU defeated a team ranked 11th or higher was March 8, 1992 when WSU beat No. 8 USC 82-68 in Pullman. The Cougars last defeated a ranked UCLA squad on December 19, 1986, when WSU came through with an 81-73 upset of No. 17 UCLA.

Date   Score                        Location
1/7    No. 8 Arizona 98, WSU 87     Tucson, Ariz.
1/21   No. 3 Stanford 94, WSU 45    Stanford, Calif.

G 1-3	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Nelson, Pengelly, Bush
G 4, 13, 15-18
	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Miller, Pengelly, Thomas
G 5	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Nelson, Pengelly, Thomas
G 6	Mensah-Bonsu, Slotemaker, Pengelly, Thomas, Bush
G 7-10	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Pengelly, Thomas, Bush
G 11	Mensah-Bonsu, Miller, Pengelly, Thomas, Hutchens
G 12	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Slotemaker, Pengelly,Thomas
G 14	Mensah-Bonsu, Crosby, Miller, Pengelly, Bush

ANOTHER GAME, ANOTHER RECORD: From Alaska to Texas, it seems like just about everywhere the Cougars travel this season, they set a record. The most recent trip to the Bay Area was no exception. Junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas tied the Oakland Arena record with five three pointers versus the Golden Bears on January 23. It was the sixth record of the season established or tied by Thomas alone. FYI: The Friel Court record for threes is nine by Bennie Seltzer vs. Stanford in 1993; the team mark is 13 vs. Stanford in 1993. Here's a look at the marks WSU has left around the country:

Date	Record Set
11/21	Top of the World Classic (Fairbanks, Alaska)
		three-point field goals (7), individual single
		game, by Jan-Michael Thomas (vs. Nebraska)
12/20	TIE - WSU school three-point field goals (9),
		individual single-game, by Chris Crosby
		(at Idaho)
12/20	Kibbie Dome (Moscow, Idaho) three-point field
		goals (9), individual single-game, by Chris
		Crosby (vs. Idaho)
12/28	Don Haskins Center (El Paso, Texas) three-point
		field goals (8), individual single-game, by Jan-
		Michael Thomas (vs. Texas-El Paso)
12/28	Sun Bowl Classic (El Paso, Texas) three-point
		field goals (8), individual single-game, by Jan-
		Michael Thomas (vs. Texas-El Paso)
12/29	Don Haskins Center (El Paso, Texas) points
		(114), team single-game, by WSU (vs.
		Grambling State)
12/29	Sun Bowl Classic (El Paso, Texas) margin-of-
		victory (46 points;114-68), team single-game,
		by WSU (vs. Grambling State)
1/7		McKale Center (Tucson, Ariz.) three-point field
		goals (8), individual single-game, by Jan-
		Michael Thomas (vs. Arizona)
1/7		Arizona opponent three-point field goals (8),
		individual single-game, by Jan-Michael
		Thomas (at Arizona)
1/14	Friel Court (Pullman, Wash.) fouls -- two teams
		(62), by Oregon (30) and WSU (32)
1/23	TIE - Oakland Arena (Oakland, Calif.) three
		point field goals (5), individual, single-game, by
		Jan-Michael Thomas (vs. California)

SCOUTING USC: The Trojans bring a four-game losing skid into this weekend. Three of those four losses were at home. USC faces a tough challenge at rapidly-improving Washington Thursday before visiting Pullman on Saturday. The Trojans are 3-2 on the road this season (1-1 Pac-10). USC is the top shot-blocking team in the league at 5.38 per game. The Trojans can also put the ball in the basket, scoring 76.4 points per game.

WSU-STANFORD RECAP: WSU suffered the second-worst loss in school history last Thursday night at No. 3 Stanford. The 49-point, 94-45 Cardinal win was surpassed in Cougar history only by UCLA's 93-41 (52 points) crushing in 1965. The 45 points scored by WSU was the Cougars' lowest since a 79-41 defeat at No. 3 Arizona in 1988. In addition to points, WSU was held to season lows in field goals (15), field goal percentage (.300), three-pointers (1), three-point percentage (.056) and rebounds (23). Jan-Michael Thomas was the only Cougar in double figures with 10 points. Senior center Leif Nelson was a bright spot off the bench in a season-high 16 minutes of action.

WSU-CALIFORNIA RECAP: The Cougars rebounded from the Stanford debacle to nearly upset Cal on Saturday. But the Bears prevailed 75-68. WSU fell behind by 18 points early in the second half, but a quick lineup of Kab Kazadi, Mike Bush, Eddie Miller, Kojo Mensah-Bonsu and Jan-Michael Thomas brought the Cougars back to within three before time ran out. Thomas has 19 points (five threes), while Mensah-Bonsu added 18 with a career-high five steals and Eddie Miller scored 13.

INJURIES TAKE TOLL: WSU had to wait nearly two months into the season before all 12 players were available for action (December 28 versus Texas-El Paso). One day later, all 12 Cougars saw action in the rout of Grambling State.

From game one, WSU had at least one player unavailable due to injury. The first four games, back-up point guard Kab Kazadi was nursing a deep thigh bruise. Then just as Kazadi returned for the Gonzaga game, another player, sophomore forward Eddie Miller went down during the last 15 minutes of the last practice before the Gonzaga game. He was the first of WSU's six left ankle injuries.

Sophomore center Brian Stewart was ankle No. 2 just three days later, while senior forward Steve Slotemaker suffered the team's third left ankle sprain during the first half of the December 2 win against Portland State when he fell on a Viking player following a three-point shot attempt. That was a span of six days when three players sprained their left ankle. Miller and Stewart each missed two games, while Slotemaker was lost a span of three games.

In mid-December, freshman guard Mike Bush sprained his left ankle walking on an icy sidewalk, while Kazadi suffered a left ankle sprain during a finals week practice. Both returned in time for the Idaho game.

Perhaps the strangest left ankle sprain happened to senior center Leif Nelson who suffered the injury on December 13 while playing with some local youths during a Cougar appearance in the Pullman community. Nelson missed the Idaho game but returned to play versus UTEP.

The flu bug hit junior guard Jan-Michael Thomas for the January 9 Arizona State game as he missed his first contest of the year. Cougar players have sat out a combined 13 games in 1998-99 due to injury or illness.

CROSBY EARNS ALL-TOURNEY NOD: Junior Chris Crosby was named to the all-tournament team for his play at the Top of the World Classic, November 19-22, in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was the first career all-tournament selection for the Littleton, Colo., native. Crosby was among the tournament's top scorers and rebounders, averaging 17.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest for the three-game event. Included in that was 25 points and career-highs in rebounds (13) and free throws (12) versus Alaska-Fairbanks.

MANAGER COHN HONORED: Perhaps the surprise of the Top of the World Classic came during the awards ceremony when WSU student manager Jeff Cohn was honored with the Order of Nanook Award. The Fairbanks Princess Hotel presents the award to the top manager, "for meritorious demonstration of courtesy, cooperation and competence." Cohn, a senior from Foster City, Calif., majoring in communications, was honored with two different plaques and a giant collectable polar bear (stuffed, of course).

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE: Washington State is again playing a challenging schedule. The Cougars have eight games against teams ranked in the preseason polls (Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Arizona - twice) and 13 games versus teams that played in the 1998 postseason (NCAA: Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Arizona - twice, Nebraska - once; NIT: Arizona State - twice, Gonzaga - once; NAIA: Central Washington).

THE PENGELLY IS MIGHTIER THAN: Junior guard Blake Pengelly is climbing WSU career lists in assists and three-point shooting. He passed Brad Johnson for seventh in assists during the Cal game and needs just six more assists to pass No. 6 Isaac Fontaine (268/1994-97). The Eugene, Ore., native ranks third in three-point field goal percentage at .419 and ninth in both three pointers made (106) and attempted (253).

Junior forward Chris Crosby passed Shamon Antrum (113/1995-96) to move into sixth in career three-pointers made during the Oregon State game and needs 11 more to enter the top five. Here's a look at where Pengelly and Crosby rank: