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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.
| Tentative Cougar Starters | |||||||
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | 1998-99 Statistics | |
| 13 | Kojo Mensah-Bonsu | F | 6-5 1/4 | 217 | SR | 11.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg | |
| 34 | Chris Crosby | F | 6-7 | 215 | JR | 18.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.0 apg | |
| 54 | Leif Nelson | C | 6-10 1/2 | 272 | SR | 2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg | |
| 3 | Blake Pengelly | PG | 5-10 | 163 | JR | 8.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 6.0 apg | |
| 5 | Mike Bush | G | 6-5 | 186 | FR | 14.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.0 spg | |
| Reserves | |||||||
| 4 | Jan-Michael Thomas | G | 5-10 1/2 | 169 | JR | 22.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg | |
| 41 | Steve Slotemaker | F | 6-9 | 221 | SR | 13.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg | |
| 44 | Eddie Miller | F | 6-6 | 216 | SO | 2.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg | |
| 40 | Brian Stewart | C | 6-10 1/4 | 223 | SO | 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg | |
| 42 | Will Hutchins | G | 6-3 1/2 | 201 | SR | 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg | |
| 10 | Cedric Clark | G | 5-11 1/2 | 175 | SO | DNP | |
| 12 | Kab Kazadi | G | 6-0 | 184 | FR | DNP | |
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:
| Assists | ||
| 1. | Bennie Seltzer (1990-93) | 473 |
| 2. | Keith Morrison (1983-86) | 456 |
| 3. | Donminic Ellison (1994-96) | 441 |
| 4. | Marty Giovacchini (1974-77) | 371 |
| 5. | Dan Steward (1970-72) | 277 |
| 6. | Isaac Fontaine (1994-97) | 269 |
| 7. | Brad Johnson (1972-74) | 263 |
| 8. | Anthony Kidd (1986-89) | 255 |
| 9. | Blake Pengelly (1997- ) | 208 |
| Three-Point Field Goals | ||
| 1. | Eddie Hill (1991-94) | 233 |
| 2. | Bennie Seltzer (1990-93) | 230 |
| 3. | Isaac Fontaine (1994-97) | 208 |
| 4. | Terrance Lewis (1991-92) | 137 |
| 5. | Donminic Ellison (1994-96) | 128 |
| 6. | Shamon Antrum (1995-96) | 113 |
| 7. | Brian Wright (1986-89) | 111 |
| 8. | David Sanders (1986, 88-90) | 93 |
| 9. | Blake Pengelly (1997- ) | 90 |
| 10. | Chris Crosby (1997- ) | 85 |
| Three-Point Field Goal Attempts | ||
| 1. | Bennie Seltzer (1990-93) | 585 |
| 2. | Eddie Hill (1991-94) | 561 |
| 3. | Isaac Fontaine (1994-97) | 455 |
| 4. | Terrance Lewis (1991-92) | 343 |
| 5. | Donminic Ellison (1994-96) | 322 |
| 6. | Brian Wright (1986-89) | 302 |
| 7. | Shamon Antrum (1995-96) | 294 |
| 8. | David Sanders (1986, 88-90) | 251 |
| 9. | Chris Crosby (1997- ) | 218 |
| 10. | Darryl Woods (1989-90) | 211 |
| 11. | Blake Pengelly (1997- ) | 210 |