Washington State University Athletics

Feb. 27, 2000

PULLMAN, Wash. - The Cougars make their second trip to the Lone Star State in as many seasons to face Texas-Pan American Monday night at 5:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. CST) in Edinburg, Texas. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Broncos.

TEXAS TWISTS:

WSU's coaching roots reach deep into the heart of Texas ... head coach Paul Graham was an assistant at Southern Methodist and a head coach at Kimball High School in Dallas ... assistant Randall Dickey was an assistant at both Howard Junior College in Big Spring and Midland Junior College in Midland ... also, junior forward Tyrone Evans hails from just up the road, relatively speaking -- San Antonio (225 miles from Edinburg).

THIS WEEK

Radio:

The Crimson & Gray Sports Network will broadcast all WSU regular season games on its 13-station network with Bud Nameck (7th season) calling the play-by-play. Broadcasts are also available via the Internet, www.wsucougars.com.

WSU at Texas-Pan American

Monday, February 28, 2000
5:30 p.m. PST (7:30 p.m. CST)
UTPA Fieldhouse (5,000)

Television:

The Washington State-Texas-Pan American game will be shown on a delayed basis (9:00 p.m. PST Tuesday) regionally on XHFOX Cable in Edinburg/McAllen. Ronnie Zamora and Rod Lee are the announcers.

Records:

WSU is 6-18 overall, 1-14 in the Pac-10, after stopping California 81-78 in overtime Saturday night. Texas-Pan American is 11-15 overall heading into its final home game after defeating Centenary 68-60 Saturday in Edinburg.

Tentative Cougar Starters

Reserves

The Deep South: This will be the southern-most game Washington State has ever played in the contiguous United States. The previous southern-most game in the Lower 48 for WSU is a draw between Tulane (New Orleans) in 1956 and Houston in 1972.

Last Trip to Texas: WSU played in the very western-most tip of Texas last year -- El Paso. The Cougars went 1-1 in the 1998 Sun Bowl Classic, losing to host UTEP and defeating Grambling State.

On Deck: The Cougars return to Pac-10 play with a Saturday matinee versus Washington in Seattle. Tip at Key Arena is slated for 3:00 p.m.

WSU COACH PAUL GRAHAM: Paul Graham is in his first season as a head coach ... he has a 6-18 record overall and at Washington State ... Graham was an assistant coach for seven seasons under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State prior to accepting the head position at WSU ... he is the 13th former Sutton assistant to land a Division I head coaching job ... Graham is the 14th head coach in the 99-year history of Cougar basketball ... against Grambling State, Graham became the 11th WSU head coach to win his home debut.

Though Graham lost his first game (Nevada) as WSU's head coach, it's not a bad sign ... the last Cougar head coach to lose his first game on the Cougar sideline was George Raveling in 1972, who would later become the only man in WSU history to lead the Cougars to two NCAA Tournament appearances (1980, 1983).

CROSBY ENTERS TOP 10: With his finest performance ever at Friel Court, senior forward Chris Crosby moved into the top 10 in WSU career scoring ... his 33 points on Senior Night Saturday versus California (second-best career and top performance at home) lifted his career total to 1,274 points, passing Eddie Hill (1,242/1991-94) and Larry Beck (1,162/1955-57) ... he is only 11 points behind No. 9 Carlos Daniel (1,285/1995-97) ... Crosby is the 22nd member of WSU's 1,000-career point club ... he ranks ninth in the Pac-10 in scoring and fourth in FT Pct.

WSU Career Scoring Leaders

OH WHAT A FRIELING: Washington State's 74-71 victory December 2, 1998, against Portland State was the Cougars' 200th all-time win 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 (.637) ... WSU has a 209-119 all-time record in Beasley ... milestone wins at Friel:

HOME NON-LEAGUE STREAK ENDS AT 45: The second-longest non-conference home winning streak in the nation ended at 45 games after No. 25 Utah stopped WSU 78-66 Dec. 11 at Friel Court ... it was nearly a decade since WSU's last non-conference home loss ... WSU was 45-1 versus non-conference teams at Friel during the 1990s! ... the Cougars had not lost at home to a non-conference foe since December 14, 1989, when Idaho escaped Friel Court with a 56-52 win.

The streak began with a 112-81 win over BYU-Hawaii in the first game of the 1990-91 season ... WSU's 45 wins include 40 at Friel and five at Bohler Gym (all during the 1990-91 season) ... the streak also included NIT victories in 1992 (Minnesota), 1995 (Texas Tech) and 1996 (Gonzaga).

PACK YOUR BAGS: Of WSU's 17 losses, 15 have come to teams making postseason plans ... near-locks for the NCAA Tournament include Stanford (24-1), Arizona (24-4), Oregon (19-7), Utah (20-6) and Gonzaga (20-8) ... bubble/NIT teams include Arizona State (16-10), California (15-11), UCLA (15-11), USC (14-12), Oregon State (12-14) and Colorado State (16-10) ... that's a combined record of 196-93 and a winning percentage of .678!

SCOUTING TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN: The Broncos feature the nation's top three-point shooter in JR G Brian Merriweather ... he's making 4.2 threes per game ... Merriweather is the nation's top returning scorer from the 1998-99 season (23.7 ppg) and is averaging 20.7 points per game this year ... this is the home finale for UTPA and the Broncos' lone senior, Matt Palmquist, will be honored in pre-game ceremonies ... the Broncos are being out-rebounded by nearly five per game (37.0-32.7) ... Watara Banks, Kyle Sanders and John Braxton each average better than nine points per game ... at halftime, UTPA will be honoring members of its 1963 NAIA national championship team ... that team, coached by Sam Williams, went 26-6 and defeated Western Carolina 73-62 in the championship game.

Tentative Bronco Starters

WSU-UTPA SERIES: First meeting.

CALIFORNIA RECAP: Chris Crosby scored 33 points, including seven in overtime, to lead Washington State to an 81-78 upset of California Saturday at Friel Court ... the win broke a 15-game losing streak for the Cougars and improved their record to 6-18 overall and 1-14 in the Pac-10 ... Cal, which suffered a major blow to its NCAA Tournament hopes, fell to 15-11 and 6-8.

WSU used an early 14-0 run to grab a 14-4 lead and went on to a 38-33 advantage at the break ... the Cougars shot 52 percent from the floor and made 6-of-8 three-pointers in the opening period ... in the second half, Cal turned the tables, opening with a 17-2 spurt to grab a 50-40 lead with 12:57 left ... the Bears were still up by 10 at 57-47 with 9:57 to go.

Crosby, who finished with eight three-pointers on the night, and Mike Bush hit back-to-back treys to put WSU back into the game ... Cal still led, 68-64, and had the ball with under a minute left, but Shantay Legans turned the ball over on an ill-advised lob attempt with 37 seconds left.

Crosby hit another three-pointer to put WSU within one, but Cal's Donte Smith push the Bears back ahead by three with a pair of free throws ... then with the Bears up, 70-69, Sean Lampley missed two free throws with 15 seconds left to give WSU another chance ... this time, Bush sank one of two free throws with six seconds to go to send it into the extra period.

In overtime, Lampley put Cal ahead 72-70 with a jumper, but Crosby gave the Cougars the lead for good with a three-pointer ... he then hit two more free throws with 2:55 left and WSU was on its way to its first Pac-10 win.

STANFORD RECAP: - Casey Jacobsen made seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points as No. 1 Stanford trounced Washington State 89-52 Thursday night in a game matching teams at opposite ends of the Pac-10 standings ... Mark Madsen added 20 points for the Cardinal, which shot 82 percent from the field in the second half (18-of-22) to win its 11th in a row.

Stanford, which held the No. 1 ranking for three weeks earlier in the season, regained it this week after Temple ended Cincinnati's six-week run at the top with a 77-69 victory ... Washington State dropped its 15th straight under new coach Paul Graham ... the Cougars' 0-14 Pac-10 mark is the school's worst conference record ever ... the Cougars, beaten 63-38 at Stanford on Jan. 29, have lost eight in a row to the Cardinal.

Stanford, which entered the game shooting 39 percent from 3-point range, was 13-of-24 (54 percent) from beyond the arc Thursday night, with Jacobsen hitting 7-of-9 ... the Cardinal tied the Friel Court team record with 13 threes ... the Cardinal, which led 39-22 at the break after shooting 46 percent in the first half, put the game away with an 18-2 run to start the second half.

Mike Bush was the only Washington State player to score in the first 12 minutes of the period ... Washington State went on a 9-0 run in the closing minutes but got no closer than 31 ... Bush had 18 points and Chris Crosby 12 for Washington State, which hit 39 percent (20-of-51), 5 percent better than Stanford's average yield.

Washington State kept even with Stanford in the opening minutes, forcing three turnovers before David Moseley's 3-pointer with 12:32 left in the half put the Cardinal ahead 11-8.

Junior Cedric Clark made his first career start for Washington State ... the walk-on guard from Birmingham, Ala., scored four points and had one assist, one steal and three turnovers in 34 minutes ... Clark has had his top two scoring games against the Cardinal.

Bush, just a sophomore, moved into a tie for eighth in career steals ... in 42 career games, Bush has 95 steals, tied with Neil Derrick (1991-92).

COUGS IN PAC-10 RANKINGS: A glance at this week's Pac-10 stats (2/21) finds several Cougars ranked in the conference in assorted categories ... Chris Crosby ranks fourth in the conference in free throw shooting (83.7 pct.) and ninth in scoring (15.2 ppg) ... Mike Bush is 19th in scoring (13.1 ppg), fifth in steals (2.09 spg) and 10th in rebounding (6.4 rpg) ... Jan-Michael Thomas is 20th in scoring (12.6 ppg) and eighth in free throw shooting (81.5 pct) ... David Adams is seventh in three-point field goal percentage (42.1) ... Tyrone Evans is eighth in blocked shots (1.10 bpg)

As a team, WSU is second in three-point field goal percentage (.369), fourth in rebounding defense (rebounds allowed) at 34.0 rpg, fifth in free throw percentage (.696) and third in three-pointers made per game (6.26).

KNEE INJURY ENDS THOMAS' CAREER: Team doctors confirmed that WSU senior guard Jan-Michael Thomas sustained a season-ending knee injury during practice Feb. 22 ... Thomas, WSU's third-leading scorer at 12.6 points per game this season, suffered extensive damage to the medial collateral (MCL) and anterior cruciate (ACL) ligaments in his right knee ... he will undergo reconstructive surgery next month ... RS-JR G Cedric Clark, a walk-on from Birmingham, Ala., assumed Thomas' starting spot.

Thomas was WSU's third-leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points per game this season, and led the Cougars with 51 three-point baskets ... last year, Thomas set a WSU single-season record with 89 three-point field goals ... he finishes his career as WSU's all-time leading free throw shooter, having made 82.9 percent of his total attempts (121-146), just edging Byron Vadset's mark of 82.5 percent ... Thomas also ranks fifth in career three-point field goals (140) and ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.385).

CLARK TOPS CAREER TOTAL AT STANFORD: Redshirt junior forward Cedric Clark scored a career-high seven points Jan. 29 at Stanford ... the walk-on from Birmingham, Ala., also notched a career high in steals with two ... Clark came into the Stanford game with six career points ... he had his second-best scoring game Thursday night in Pullman versus the Cardinal -- four points.

Clark, the only true point guard on the WSU roster with the injury to Nick Graham and the departure of Blake Pengelly, has seen action in each of WSU's last 17 games and got his first career start Thursday night against Stanford ... when Clark made one of two free throws Jan. 15 at ASU, it was his first point since netting a free throw against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on Nov. 30, 1997 -- more than two years ago ... overall, Clark has played in 306 minutes this year, more than 12 times the total of his last two years combined -- 23 minutes.

COUGS MAY PLAY PART IN NCAA RECORD: Isn't this ironic ... though much has been made of WSU's losses this season, it may actually be a Cougar win that finds its way into the NCAA record book ... remember back to Nov. 22 -- WSU's second game of the year -- when the Cougars defeated Grambling State 83-55? ... at the time it didn't seem significant, but the Tigers are now 1-28 with one game to play ... if Grambling loses its final game -- Monday at 16-10 Alabama A&M, it will break Prairie View A&M's NCAA record of 28 losses in a season, set in 1992 ... and wouldn't you know it, the last game Grambling scheduled last summer was none other than that Nov. 22 date at Washington State (a pay out game en route to the Tigers' appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout).

THOMAS SHOOTING FOR WSU CAREER FT MARK: SR G Jan-Michael Thomas will establish the WSU career record for free throw percentage ... his career average through two seasons is 82.9 percent (121-146) ... the previous school record was 82.5 percent (255-309) by Byron Vadset (1962-64) ... teammate Chris Crosby is currently in eighth (78.4 percent).

WSU Career FT Pct. Leaders

In the single season chase, Crosby is hitting 81.7 percent at the charity stripe ... Crosby is just off David Sanders' 1988 record of 88.5 percent (54-61) ... he tied a 35-year-old school record by hitting 11-of-11 attempts Dec. 4 versus Southern ... Crosby had a streak of 25 consecutive free throws made snapped with a miss late in the Portland game.

WSU Season FT Pct. Leaders

MORE ON CROSBY: Pop quiz -- how do you transform a 6-8 shooting guard into a pretty well-rounded inside player? Answer -- Paul Graham ... for the first three years of his career, Chris Crosby was a shooting guard inside a forward's body ... nearly half of his career field goal attempts (365 of 739) came from beyond the arc ... but this season, Crosby has attempted 270 field goals with only 48 percent (130) coming from downtown.

And to those who thought he was just a gunner, check out the box from the Grambling State game, his 29 points were the second-highest of his career, but only one of his 12 FGs was a three ... he also had six boards and a pair of steals ... Crosby is shooting a career-best 44 percent from the field through 23 games (120-270) ... and make no mistake, his three-point shooting is just as good as ever, if not better, he's 53-130 (40.8 percent) from three-point land this season and the inside-out dual threat makes his threes all the more devastating.

Crosby is also grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game and setting screens in the offensive set that eventually lead to a lot of open looks at the basket ... he has even cut his turnovers down to less than two per game, a number that needs to continue to decline ... but if Crosby makes it to the next level, he can thank one man with a reputation for developing big men -- Paul Graham.

THREE-POINT PLAYERS: Seniors Chris Crosby and Jan-Michael Thomas both rank in WSU's top five in career three-point baskets.

Crosby leads the pair with 195 threes (fourth) and looks to close in on the 200 barrier by season's end ... Thomas, in just two seasons wearing the Crimson and Gray, finished his career in fifth with 140:

Three-Point Field Goals

Three-Point Field Goal Attempts

NEW OPPONENTS: WSU faced two opponents for the first time ever this season -- Southern and Texas-Pan American ... Utah visited Pullman for the first time since 1939, it was also the first game between the two schools overall since 1972 ... the Cougars also renewed dormant rivalries with Nevada (last meeting 1972), Colorado State (1978) and Portland (1990).

OLD OPPONENTS: WSU's oldest rivalry, Oregon State, reached game No. 260 this season ... Washington State and Idaho met for the 255th time this season ... the second Oregon was No. 254 in the series ... WSU and Washington inch toward the 250 mark with games 247 and 248 this season ... it was just the second meeting with Grambling State.

PENGELLY LEAVES TEAM: Senior guard Blake Pengelly left the Washington State men's basketball team for personal reasons, announced prior to WSU's Dec. 7 game versus Portland.

Pengelly, a native of Eugene, Ore., was averaging 4.0 points and 6.8 assists per game through five contests this season ... he played in 93 career games with 56 starts ... he ranks fifth in WSU career assists with 324 and is eighth in career three-point field goals with 119.

BUSH LEADS COUGS IN PAC-10 PLAY: SO G Mike Bush has been impressive in Pac-10 play ... he leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg) and set a career high with 26 points versus Oregon State last Saturday ... he also had 20 points and 10 rebounds Feb. 12 versus Arizona State, giving Bush back-to-back double-doubles (19 pts, 12 reb. Feb. 5 vs. UW) ... for his well-rounded play, Bush could receive consideration for all-Pac-10 honors ... he leads the team in rebounding, steals and assists ... he also ranks among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding and steals.

EXTRA FACTS ON OVERTIME: WSU has played four overtime games so far this season, tying the recored set by the 1982-83 team and the 1985-86 team.

MILLER SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Since returning to WSU's lineup 16 games ago, junior forward Eddie Miller has been solid ... he's averaging 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and has notched career-highs in rebounds twice (14 vs. USC and Arizona) and points once (23 vs. Washington) ... during that stretch, Miller had a pair of doubles (13 pts, 14 reb vs. USC, 16 pts, 14 reb vs. Arizona) and just missed another at Arizona State (11 pts, 9 reb), versus Oregon (12 pts, 9 reb) and against Cal (19 points, 8 reb.) ... the Reseda, Calif., native has been the Cougs' leading rebounder in seven of the last 15 games ... Miller, who was sidelined during the fall semester due to academic problems, would be among the Pac-10 leaders in rebounding if he had played in enough games -- he will not qualify for the Pac-10 stats until Feb. 28 -- following the Cal game on Feb. 26 ... Miller, a 1999 Pac-10 all-newcomer honorable mention, averaged 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season.

I WANT MY COUGTV: Washington State will be on the Fox network nine times this season ... three games will be shown nationally (Fox Sports Northwest locally) -- Dec. 11 Utah, Jan. 22 Oregon and Feb. 5 Washington ... Fox Sports Northwest will broadcast an additional four games -- Nov. 29 Gonzaga, Jan. 13 Arizona, Feb. 12 Arizona and Feb. 26 California -- to a regional audience ... two other road games will be shown in their local market -- Jan. 29 Stanford (Fox Sports Bay Area) and March 11 USC (Fox West 2).

WOW - WHAT A SCHEDULE: For the first time since 1994-95, odds are that WSU will play home games against five different ranked teams ... the first three came Nov. 29 versus No. 25 Gonzaga (Spokane), Dec. 11 versus No. 25 Utah, Jan. 8 vs. No. 20 UCLA and Feb. 12 vs. No. 7 Arizona ... one more opponent is currently ranked in the national polls: No. 1 Stanford ... in 1994-95, all five teams were from the Pac-10: No. 17 California, No. 23 Stanford, No. 17 Oregon, No. 12 Arizona and No. 15 Arizona State (WSU was 4-1 versus those schools at home).

FROSH ADAMS HITS FOR 20: When guard David Adams scored a career-high 20 points Jan. 20 versus Oregon State, he became the first WSU freshman to notch 20 points in a game since Isaac Fontaine went for 21 against Arizona State, Feb. 5, 1994 ... Fontaine also had a 33-point game earlier that season against Michigan State ... Adams leads WSU in three-point field goal percentage (.421) and ranks seventh in the Pac-10 ... the Tacoma, Wash., native is averaging 7.4 points per game and has six double-figure scoring games this season: Grambling State (12), Portland (12), Colorado State (17), Arizona (10), Oregon (10) and Oregon State.

Adams recently had back-to-back double figure games with 10 points versus Arizona and 11 at Oregon.

RECENT ADDITIONS: WSU has added three players to its roster since the beginning of the season ... the latest two additions are freshman guard Marcus Moore and junior forward Claude "CD" Doucet.

Moore is a 6-5 guard who signed with WSU in the fall and passed his SAT in December to become eligible ... Moore finished his brilliant career at Dominguez High School in Compton, Calif., last spring, leading the school to the 1999 state championship ... he was the 1999 John Wooden Award winner for the state of California for coach Russell Otis and was ranked as the state's top point guard after averaging 13 points, eight assists and six boards a game.

Doucet comes to WSU via Lamar ... the Anchorage, Alaska, native signed with Lamar after playing two seasons at South Plains Junior College in Levelland, Texas, where he averaged seven points and four rebounds per game ... Doucet, who transferred to WSU to be closer to home, will practice with the Cougars this semester, but will not be eligible until next year.

Football player Paul Mencke was already a slash -- quarterback/tight end/receiver ... now you can add two more words to that title -- guard/forward ... Mencke, a two-time Greater Spokane League MVP, joined the Washington State basketball team on Dec. 13.

During his junior year, the Spokane native was named MVP of the GSL and led Lewis and Clark High School to its first state tournament appearance in 32 years ... the 6-5, 229-lbs., Mencke averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senior and repeated his GSL MVP honors ... playing for coach Glenn Williams, he led the GSL in scoring in back-to-back seasons.

Mencke wears number 24 (he wanted to wear his football number 12, but the jersey was too small) ... like he was in football, Mencke is a redshirt junior and has this season and next season of eligibility remaining ... following basketball, Mecke will re-join the football team for spring drills and then stay with football through the fall ... if all goes well this season, Mencke will play basketball again next winter following the conclusion of the 2000 football season.

BUSH ENTERS STEALS CAREER TOP 10: The best defender on the Cougar team and one of the most underrated players in the Pac-10 players, SO G Mike Bush entered the WSU career top 10 in steals -- AS JUST A SOPHOMORE! He passed Neil Derrick (95/1991-92) during the Cal game.

Bush is also close to cracking the single-season top ten, with five games yet to play ... he has 50 on the season, tied with No. 10 Terrence Lewis (50/1992).

BUSH, COUGARS TIE STEALS MARKS: Mike Bush reasserted himself as one of the best defenders in the Pac-10 Dec. 20 versus Portland State by tying Don Collins' 20-year-old single-game steals record of eight ... led by his efforts, the Cougs also tied the team single-game steals record with 17 ... Bush is averaging 2.1 steals per game to rank fifth in the Pac-10.

Bush continues to show much improvement during his sophomore season ... he is WSU's leading rebounder (6.4 rpg) ... Bush had 10 boards in WSU's win over Idaho and has been WSU's leading rebounder 10 times this season ... he also had 15 points versus the Vandals which gave the 6-6 Bush his first career double-double ... against Washington, Bush notched his second career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds ... versus Arizona State Feb. 12, Bush scored a career-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds -- his second straight double-double ... most recently, Bush set a career-high in scoring with 26 last Saturday at OSU.

The Riverside, Calif., native has also shown more scoring punch with 12 double-figure scoring games this year ... for the season, Bush is averaging 13.1 points per game, up from his 6.6 ppg mark of his rookie campaign.

INJURY UPDATE: WSU's athletic trainers have been earning their keep this semester ... Jan-Michael Thomas (see p. 4 note) is only the latest casualty ... RS-FR F Milton Riley fractured the little finger on his right hand Feb. 15 during practice ... Riley has been playing with the little finger padded and taped to his ring finger ... another of WSU's more serious injuries is FR G Nick Graham, who suffered a severe right ankle sprain during practice on Jan. 17 ... Graham is likely out for the remainder of the season ... WSU's back up point guard had played in all 13 games prior to his injury, averaging 1.7 points per game ... JR F Tyrone Evans has suffered a myriad of injuries this season ... he has sprained his left knee twice (the first time, Dec. 30 at Colorado State, caused him to miss three games) ... Evans also cut his right hand on the backboard Jan. 17 during practice, and required 10 stitches ... FR F Bryan Whitehead sustained a right knee injury during practice before the Jan. 6 USC game and missed six games ... he returned to play three minutes and scored two points Jan. 27 against Cal ... so far, five Cougars have missed games due to injury this season: Graham (10 games), Whitehead (6 games), Evans (3 games), Thomas (1 game) and Milton Riley (1 game).

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS: WSU opened the season with five freshmen on its roster (David Adams, Nick Graham, Mike Malloy, Milton Riley and Bryan Whitehead) for the first time in 14 years ... the last time WSU had at least five rookies on its opening day roster was the 1985-86 season ... that year, the Cougs actually had six -- Neil Evans, David Hairston, John Hodges, Anthony Kidd, David Sanders and Brian Wright ... five of those six names should be very familiar to the Cougar faithful, Evans (who redshirted the 1985-86 season), Hodges, Kidd, Sanders and Wright all went on to become four-year letter winners for WSU ... the 1985-86 Cougars went 15-16 overall and 8-10 in the conference for Coach Len Stevens.

WSU VS. RANKED TEAMS: WSU played seven games against top 25 teams ... the last time WSU defeated a ranked opponent was February 22, 1997, when the Cougs beat No. 25 Cal 89-87 ... WSU played eight games versus ranked opponents during the 1996-97 season.

THE SKINNY ON THE L's: There have been several inquiries as to the historical relevance of WSU's recently snapped losing streaks ... in the interest of accuracy, here are the brief facts about the streaks the Cougars stopped with Saturday's win versus Cal:

15-game losing streak

• was WSU's longest since 18-game streak in 1990
• was the second-longest in WSU history

Last win: 12-20-99 (Portland State, 68-62)

8-game home losing streak

• it was WSU's longest since 8-game streak in 1990

Last win: 12-7-99 (Portland, 59-56)

18-game Pac-10 losing streak

• was WSU's longest since 18-game streak in 1974-75
• was tied for the longest in WSU history

Other streaks:

• 18 games, 2-22-74 to 3-1-75 (Pac-8)

Last win: 2-18-99 (California, 79-73)

22-game Pac-10 road losing streak

• is WSU's longest since 34-game streak 1954-58
• is the second-longest in WSU history
• is the second-longest in Pac-10 since expansion

Longer WSU streaks:

• 34 games, 2-5-54 to 2-8-58 (Pacific Coast Conference)

Longer Pac-10 streaks:

• Oregon, 27 games, 1991-94

Last win: 1-15-98 (Oregon State, 69-53)

9-game Pac-10 home losing streak

• was WSU's longest since 10-game streak in 1974-75
• was tied for the second-longest in WSU history

Other streaks:

• 10 games, 3-2-74 to 2-22-75 (Pac-8)
• 9 games, 1-24-27 to 2-21-28 (Pacific Coast North)

Last win: 2-18-99 (California, 79-73)

0-14 to begin Pac-10 play

• was WSU's poorest
• was the poorest in the Pac-10 since Arizona went 0-14 in1983 (finished 1-17)

Previous worse start to conference play: 0-14, 1983, Arizona

SLASH MENCKE BECOMES TRUE TWO-SPORTER: To the delight of his hometown Spokane Arena crowd, Paul Mencke became the first two-sport football-basketball player at WSU since Kitrick Taylor in the mid 1980s when he played in his first basketball game Jan. 6 versus USC ... Mencke played four minutes and grabbed two rebounds against the Trojans ... it was the first time in four years that Mencke played in the Lilac City ... Mencke scored his first point as a basketball player on a free throw Jan. 13 at Arizona and grabbed a career-high five rebounds Jan. 22 versus Oregon ... he scored a career-high four points Thursday versus Stanford.

Taylor is a former NFL player who lettered in football in 1982-83 and 1985-86 and in basketball in 1985 and 1987.

ANOTHER SERVICE RANKS WSU RECRUITS NO. 2 IN THE PAC-10: First Bob Gibbons did it ... now Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop has ranked WSU's 2000 recruiting class as the second-best in the Pac-10 ... in the January edition of Basketball Times, Francis ranked WSU's four fall signees as the 37th-best in the nation and second in the Pac-10 to Oregon (26th overall) ... other Pac-10 schools among the top 100 included No. 65 Arizona State, No. 85 California and No. 90 Washington.

GIBBONS RANKS WSU NO. 2 IN PAC-10: College basketball recruiting expert Bob Gibbons has ranked Washington State's 2000 recruiting class as the 28th-best in the nation in his December newsletter ... the four WSU signees are also listed as the No. 2 class in the Pac-10, trailing only Oregon ... the Cougars signed four guards during the early signing period in November ... slated to take the hardwood for WSU next season are high schoolers Tommy Johnson from Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School and Marcus Moore from Dominguez Hills High School in Compton, Calif., and junior college transfers Jerry McNair (Fullerton College) and Kendall Minor (Southern Idaho) ... Moore enrolled at WSU in January and has been practicing with the team ... both McNair and Minor will come in with three years of eligibility remaining ... Oregon was ranked 25th, just three spots higher than WSU ... other Pac-10 schools in the top 75 include No. 57 Stanford, No. 61 Washington and No. 72 Arizona State ... WSU has one more newcomer who will join the four fall signees next year -- 6-10 center J Locklier who transferred from Miami, Ohio ... Locklier must redshirt this season under NCAA transfer rules and will be a junior in 2000-01.

STARTERS: Coming into the 1999-2000 season, only five of WSU's 13 players had ever started a college game ... of the active players, Chris Crosby has the most starts with 60, followed by Jan-Michael Thomas (46):

STARTING LINE-UPS: Here's a breakdown of WSU's starting five in 1999-2000:

HENDRICKSON RE-SIGNED BY CAVS: Former WSU standout Mark Hendrickson (1993-96) signed a second 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 18 ... it is the 21st straight season that WSU has had at least one player in the NBA, dating back to James Donaldson in 1979-80 and continuing with Craig Ehlo, Brian Quinnett and Hendrickson ... this is Hendrickson's fourth year in the NBA, he was drafted by Philadelphia and has also played for Sacramento and New Jersey ... Hendrickson is No. 4 on WSU's all-time scoring list (1,496 points) and second in rebounding (926) and field goal percentage (.567) ... he also ranks sixth in free throws (400), first in fouls (335) and third in minutes played (3,570) ... he was a two-time all-Pac-10 pick in 1995-96 and made the league's freshman team in 1993 ... Hendrickson was a three-time NABC District 14 All-America selection, team MVP in 1995 and 1996 and captained the 1996 Cougar squad.

GAMES OF THE 1900s: The Colorado State game on Dec. 30, 1999, was the 2,510th and final game of the 1900s for Washington State ... WSU's first season of basketball was 1901-02 ... the Cougars posted a 1,326-1,184 all-time record from 1901-99.

PAC-10 POLL: WSU was picked to finish 10th in a preseason poll of media members conducted by the Pac-10 Office. Arizona was chosen first, followed by UCLA and Stanford:

COUGARS BID FAREWELL TO THOMAS AND CROSBY: Seniors Jan-Michael Thomas and Chris Crosby take the floor at Friel Court for the last time Saturday ... Thomas, a 6-0 guard from Inglewood, Calif., had his career come to an abrupt end earlier this week when he suffered a knee injury in practice (see page 4 for more details) ... a transfer from San Joaquin Delta Junior College, Thomas finishes his WSU career as the Cougars' all-time leader in free throw percentage (.829) ... as a junior, Thomas set a school record with 89 three-pointers ... he played in 50 career games and ranks fifth in WSU career three-pointers with 140 ... Thomas is scheduled to graduate this summer with a degree in social science.

Crosby, a 6-8 forward, is a four-year letter winner who will finish his career in WSU's all-time top 10 in scoring ... he is currently 12th with 1,241 points, just 21 points away from the top 10 ... the Littleton, Colo., native's name is scattered throughout the Cougar record book ... in addition to his impressive point total, Crosby ranks fourth in three-point field goals (186) and eighth in free throw percentage (.792) ... he is also on the verge of becoming the only Cougar to have two seasons rank among the top ten in free throw percentage in WSU history, this season he's hitting .837 at the line (sixth), while he connected at an .844 clip (fourth) in 1999 ... Saturday will be Crosby's 111th career game ... Crosby is scheduled to graduate this summer with a degree in business management.

WSU will also bid farewell to senior manager Jake Hamblin ... a native of Preston, Idaho, Hamblin is a two-year manager for the Cougars who will graduate in May with a degree in sport management.