PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State University men’s basketball (1-0) will host Utah Valley University (1-1) in its second game of the season, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, at Beasley Coliseum.
The game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks and via KXLY and the Cougar IMG Radio Network. Live updates will be provided on Twitter by following @WSUMensHoops, the official Twitter account of Washington State men’s basketball.
Utah Valley
Wednesday will mark the first meeting between WSU and Utah Valley.
Utah Valley is a member of the Great West Conference, one of five basketball members.
The Cougars have faced just one of those five members, Texas-Pan American.
WSU is 3-1 against UTPA, having won the last three matchups. The two teams met most recently during the 2010-11 season, prior to that during the 2001-02, 2000-01 and 1999-2000 seasons.
Perfect at Friel in November
With its win over Eastern Washington University in its season opener, WSU improved to 43-0 all-time in the month of November at Friel Court.
The Cougars have won 43-straight November games in Pullman and are 45-1 (the loss came before the Cougars moved into Beasley Coliseum).
WSU’s only loss in Pullman in November came against Colorado State, Nov., 30, 1962, by a score of 77-47.
Last outing
The Cougars are 1-0 after defeating Eastern Washington, 88-69, Nov. 10, in their season opener at Beasley Coliseum.
Brock Motum picked up where he left off with his fourth career double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds…he added two blocked shots.
Fellow senior Mike Laddand sophomore DaVonté Lacy chipped in 15 points apiece, while D.J. Shelton hit the boards hard for a career-high 12 rebounds.
Royce Woolridge, Junior Longrus, Brett Boese, James Hunter, Dominic Ballard and Keaton Hayenga each made their debuts for the Cougars.
Woolridge was the only non-returning letterwinner to start for the Cougars…the redshirt sophomore sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules after transferring from Kansas.
Woolridge finished with 7 points, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot while starting at point guard.
About Washington State
The team boasts two returning starters, including 2011-12 Pac-12 leading scorer, Brock Motum.
Joining Motum and sophomore DaVonté Lacy are six more returning letterwinners and two returning squad members.
Among the returning letterwinners are senior guard Mike Ladd, junior forward Will DiIorio, redshirt sophomore guard Dexter Kernich-Drew and redshirt junior forward D.J. Shelton, along with squad members sophomore Royce Woolridge and freshman Dominic Ballard, both whom redshirted last season.
Joining this year’s squad are four transfers and two true freshmen.
Two of the transfers, Jordan Railey (Iowa State) and Brett Kingma (Oregon) will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules, but Keaton Hayenga and James Hunter, and Brett Boese and Bryce Leavitt will be eligible immediately.
WSU lost three starters from last season’s team; Marcus Capers and Abe Lodwick, who graduated following their senior seasons and Reggie Moore, who was dismissed from the team this fall.
Seniors Faisal Aden and Charlie Enquist and sophomore Patrick Simon are also gone from last year’s team after playing notable minutes for the Cougs.
Motum eyes 1,000 points
With 956 points, senior Brock Motum is just 44 points away from becoming the 33rd Cougar to reach 1,000 career points and the third in the last four seasons.
Klay Thompson scored his 1,000th point during the 2009-10 season and Reggie Moore reached 1,000 points in the Cougs second-to-last game of the 2011-12 season.
For more information see the WSU Cougars website.