# 2018–19 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Ernie Kent. The Cougars played their home games at the Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington as members in the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 11–21, 4–14 in Pac-12 play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon.
At the conclusion of the season, Kent was fired.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2017–18 season 12–19, 4–14 in Pac-12 play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Drick Bernstine | F | 6'8" | 220 | RS Senior | Aurora, CO | Completed athletic eligibility |
| Steven Shpreyregin | G | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Seattle, WA | Graduated |
| K. J. Langston | G | 6'4" | 185 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Dismissed from team |
| Malachi Flynn | G | 6'1" | 170 | Sophomore | Tacoma, WA | Transferred to San Diego State. |
| Milan Acquaah | G | 6'3" | 185 | RS Freshman | Pasadena, CA | Transferred |
| Jamar Ergas | G | 6'3" | 182 | Freshman | Toronto, ON | Transferred to South Plains College |
| T. J. Mickelson | G | 6'1" | 160 | Freshman | Olympia, WA | Transferred to Lake Region State College |
| Kwinton Hinton | G | 6'4" | 215 | Junior | Fairmount, GA | Left team |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Isaiah Wade | F | 6'8" | 210 | Junior | Minneapolis, MN | Iowa Western CC |
| Jervae Robinson | G | 6'2" | 180 | Junior | Aurora, CO | Otero JC |
| Marvin Cannon | F | 6'5" | 160 | Sophomore | Richmond, VA | Barton CC |
| Ahmed Ali | G | 5'11" | 165 | Junior | Toronto, ON | Eastern Florida State College |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| C. J. Elleby SF | Seattle, WA | Cleveland High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 9, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Aljaž Kunc SF | Slovenia | Impact Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Mar 23, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2018* 2:00 pm | | New Hope Christian | W 138–63 | | Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2018* 4:00 pm, P12N | | Nicholls | W 89–72 | 1–0 | Beasley Coliseum (2,090) Pullman, WA |
| November 14, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 69–78 | 1–1 | Showare Center (1,977) Kent, WA |
| November 19, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Cal Poly | W 84–70 | 2–1 | Beasley Coliseum (1,774) Pullman, WA |
| November 24, 2018* 7:30 pm, P12N | | Delaware State | W 80–52 | 3–1 | Beasley Coliseum (1,203) Pullman, WA |
| November 27, 2018* 8:00 pm, P12N | | Cal State Northridge | W 103–94 | 4–1 | Beasley Coliseum (1,909) Pullman, WA |
| December 1, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at New Mexico State | L 63–69 | 4–2 | Pan American Center (4,880) Las Cruces, NM |
| December 5, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Idaho Battle of the Palouse | W 90–70 | 5–2 | Beasley Coliseum (2,748) Pullman, WA |
| December 9, 2018* 4:00 pm, P12N | | vs. Montana State Kennewick Showcase | L 90–95 | 5–3 | Toyota Center (1,807) Kennewick, WA |
| December 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Rider Las Vegas Classic campus game | W 94–80 | 6–3 | Beasley Coliseum (1,673) Pullman, WA |
| December 19, 2018* 7:30 pm, P12N | | SIU Edwardsville Las Vegas Classic campus game | W 89–73 | 7–3 | Beasley Coliseum (1,776) Pullman, WA |
| December 22, 2018* 4:30 pm, FS1 | | vs. San Diego Las Vegas Classic semifinals | L 75–82 | 7–4 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| December 23, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. New Mexico State Las Vegas Classic 3rd place game | L 72–75 | 7–5 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| December 29, 2018* 11:00 am, P12N | | vs. Santa Clara Spokane Showcase | L 71–79 | 7–6 | Spokane Arena (2,723) Spokane, WA |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| January 5, 2019 7:30 pm, P12N | | at Washington Rivalry | L 67–85 | 7–7 (0–1) | Alaska Airlines Arena (8,029) Seattle, WA |
| January 10, 2019 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Colorado | L 60–92 | 7–8 (0–2) | CU Events Center (6,184) Boulder, CO |
| January 12, 2019 5:30 pm, P12N | | at Utah | L 70–88 | 7–9 (0–3) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,358) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 17, 2019 7:00 pm, P12N | | California | W 82–59 | 8–9 (1–3) | Beasley Coliseum (2,130) Pullman, WA |
| January 19, 2019 12:00 pm, P12N | | Stanford | L 66–78 | 8–10 (1–4) | Beasley Coliseum (2,364) Pullman, WA |
| January 24, 2019 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | L 77–90 | 8–11 (1–5) | Gill Coliseum (5,100) Corvallis, OR |
| January 27, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Oregon | L 58–78 | 8–12 (1–6) | Matthew Knight Arena (8,929) Eugene, OR |
| January 30, 2019 7:30 pm, P12N | | UCLA | L 67–87 | 8–13 (1–7) | Beasley Coliseum (2,497) Pullman, WA |
| February 2, 2019 4:00 pm, P12N | | USC | L 84–93 | 8–14 (1–8) | Beasley Coliseum (2,559) Pullman, WA |
| February 7, 2019 5:30 pm, P12N | | at Arizona State | W 91–70 | 9–14 (2–8) | Wells Fargo Arena (9,517) Tempe, AZ |
| February 9, 2019 4:30 pm, P12N | | at Arizona | W 69–55 | 10–14 (3–8) | McKale Center (14,145) Tucson, AZ |
| February 16, 2019 5:30 pm, ESPNU | | Washington Rivalry | L 70–72 | 10–15 (3–9) | Beasley Coliseum (4,233) Pullman, WA |
| February 20, 2019 7:00 pm, P12N | | Colorado | W 76–74 | 11–15 (4–9) | Beasley Coliseum (1,911) Pullman, WA |
| February 23, 2019 5:00 pm, P12N | | Utah | L 79–92 | 11–16 (4–10) | Beasley Coliseum (3,199) Pullman, WA |
| February 28, 2019 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 50–98 | 11–17 (4–11) | Maples Pavilion (3,139) Stanford, CA |
| March 2, 2019 4:00 pm, P12N | | at California | L 69–76 | 11–18 (4–12) | Haas Pavilion (7,406) Berkeley, CA |
| March 6, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Oregon | L 61–72 | 11–19 (4–13) | Beasley Coliseum (2,065) Pullman, WA |
| March 9, 2019 12:00 pm, P12N | | Oregon State | L 77–85 | 11–20 (4–14) | Beasley Coliseum (2,549) Pullman, WA |
| Pac-12 Tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2019 8:30 pm, P12N | (11) | vs. (6) Oregon First round | L 51–84 | 11–21 | T-Mobile Arena (8,876) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||