# 2016–17 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by third-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 13–18, 6–12 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They lost to Colorado in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2015–16 season 9–22, 1–17 in Pac-12 play to finish in last place in the conference. The Cougars lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Colorado.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Junior Longrus | 15 | F | 6'7" | 240 | Senior | Oakland, CA | Graduated |
| Que Johnson | 32 | F | 6'5" | 208 | RS Junior | Pontiac, MI | Graduate transferred to Western Kentucky |
| Brett Boese | 33 | F | 6'7" | 230 | Senior | Spokane, WA | Graduated |
| Valentine Izundu | 45 | C | 6'11" | 235 | RS Junior | Houston, TX | Graduate transferred to San Diego State |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Keith Langston | 10 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Sophomore | Chicago, IL | Junior college transferred from Chabot College |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Milan Acquaah PG | Los Angeles, CA | Cathedral High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Feb 23, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Jeff Pollard PF | Bountiful, UT | Impact Basketball Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Jun 25, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Malachi Flynn PG | Tacoma, WA | Bellarmine Prep | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Apr 13, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Jamar Ergas SF | Montverde, FL | Montverde Academy | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | May 2, 2016 |
| Recruiting 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: "2016 Washington St. Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016. "2016 Washington State Cougars Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 6, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2016* 5:00 pm | | Carroll (MT) | W 78–70 | | Beasley Coliseum (1,932) Pullman, WA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 4:00 pm, P12N | | Montana State | W 69–65 | 1–0 | Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm, P12N | | vs. Central Washington Kennewick Showcase | W 81–76 | 2–0 | Toyota Center (1,935) Kennewick, WA |
| 11/18/2016* 5:30 pm | | vs. No. 22 Creighton Paradise Jam quarterfinals | L 77–103 | 2–1 | Sports and Fitness Center (2,223) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/19/2016* 4:00 pm | | vs. Montana Paradise Jam 2nd round consolation | W 87–63 | 3–1 | Sports and Fitness Center (1,831) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/21/2016* 12:00 pm | | vs. Loyola–Chicago Paradise Jam 5th place game | L 79–88 | 3–2 | Sports and Fitness Center (224) St. Thomas, VI |
| 11/27/2016* 3:00 pm, P12N | | San Jose State | L 76–88 | 3–3 | Beasley Coliseum (2,317) Pullman, WA |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Utah Valley | W 83–76 | 4–3 | Beasley Coliseum (2,314) Pullman, WA |
| 12/03/2016* 3:00 pm, P12N | | New Orleans | L 54–70 | 4–4 | Beasley Coliseum (2,617) Pullman, WA |
| 12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Idaho Battle of the Palouse | W 61–48 | 5–4 | Beasley Coliseum (3,178) Pullman, WA |
| 12/10/2016* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Kansas State Wildcat Classic | L 56–70 | 5–5 | Sprint Center (8,807) Kansas City, MO |
| 12/17/2016* 1:00 pm, P12N | | Santa Clara | W 69–68 | 6–5 | Beasley Coliseum (2,388) Pullman, WA |
| 12/21/2016* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Sacramento State | W 74–66 | 7–5 | Beasley Coliseum (2,248) Pullman, WA |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| 01/01/2017 5:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Washington Rivalry | W 79–74 | 8–5 (1–0) | Alaska Airlines Arena (9,259) Seattle, WA |
| 01/04/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | | vs. Oregon State | W 75–62 | 9–5 (2–0) | Spokane Arena (2,237) Spokane, WA |
| 01/07/2017 4:00 pm, P12N | | No. 15 Oregon | L 66–85 | 9–6 (2–1) | Beasley Coliseum (3,335) Pullman, WA |
| 01/12/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 54–84 | 9–7 (2–2) | Maples Pavilion (3,491) Stanford, CA |
| 01/14/2017 1:00 pm, P12N | | at California | L 54–58 | 9–8 (2–3) | Haas Pavilion (9,238) Berkeley, CA |
| 01/18/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | | Utah | L 47–88 | 9–9 (2–4) | Beasley Coliseum (2,928) Pullman, WA |
| 01/21/2017 1:00 pm, P12N | | Colorado | W 91–89 $^{OT}$ | 10–9 (3–4) | Beasley Coliseum (2,920) Pullman, WA |
| 01/26/2017 6:30 pm, P12N | | at No. 7 Arizona | L 62–79 | 10–10 (3–5) | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, AZ |
| 01/29/2017 11:00 am, P12N | | at Arizona State | W 91–83 | 11–10 (4–5) | Wells Fargo Arena (5,554) Tempe, AZ |
| 02/01/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | | No. 11 UCLA | L 79–95 | 11–11 (4–6) | Beasley Coliseum (4,109) Pullman, WA |
| 02/04/2017 5:00 pm, P12N | | USC | L 77–86 | 11–12 (4–7) | Beasley Coliseum (3,551) Pullman, WA |
| 02/09/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Utah | L 70–74 | 11–13 (4–8) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,800) Salt Lake City, UT |
| 02/12/2017 5:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Colorado | L 49–81 | 11–14 (4–9) | Coors Events Center (7,612) Boulder, CO |
| 02/16/2017 6:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 5 Arizona | L 59–78 | 11–15 (4–10) | Beasley Coliseum (3,448) Pullman, WA |
| 02/18/2017 2:00 pm, P12N | | Arizona State | W 86–71 | 12–15 (5–10) | Beasley Coliseum (3,344) Pullman, WA |
| 02/25/2017 5:30 pm, ESPNU | | Washington Rivalry | W 79–71 | 13–15 (6–10) | Beasley Coliseum (5,003) Pullman, WA |
| 03/01/2017 7:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | L 64–87 | 13–16 (6–11) | Galen Center (3,553) Los Angeles, CA |
| 03/04/2017 7:15 pm, ESPN | | at No. 3 UCLA | L 68–77 | 13–17 (6–12) | Pauley Pavilion (13,659) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 Tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | (10) | vs. (7) Colorado First round | L 63–73 | 13–18 | T-Mobile Arena (9,978) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||