# 2015–16 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was Ernie Kent's second year as head coach at Washington State. The Cougars played their home games at the Beasley Coliseum as members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 9–22, 1–17 in Pac-12 play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Colorado.

## Previous season

The 2014–15 Cougars finished the season with an overall record of 13–18, and 7–11 in conference play. The Cougars lost to Cal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jackie Davis | 1 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Freshman | Long Beach, CA | Transferred |
| Jordan Railey | 4 | C | 7'0" | 245 | RS Senior | Beaverton, OR | Graduated |
| Dexter Kernich-Drew | 10 | G | 6'7" | 190 | RS Senior | Melbourne, Australia | Graduated |
| Trevor Dunbar | 11 | G | 5'10" | 170 | Freshman | San Francisco, California | Transferred to City College of San Francisco |
| Aaron Cheatum | 20 | F | 6'7" | 240 | Junior | Moreno Valley, California | Transferred to Cal State Dominguez Hills |
| DaVonté Lacy | 25 | G | 6'4" | 210 | Senior | Tacoma, Washington | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Derrien King | 0 | F | 6'8" | 175 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, California | Junior college transferred from Santa Monica College |
| Renard Suggs | 1 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Woodbury, Minnesota | Junior college transferred from Gillette College |
| Charles Callison | 23 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Junior | Moreno, California | Junior college transferred from San Bernardino Valley College |
| Conor Clifford | 42 | C | 7'0" | 270 | RS Junior | Huntington Beach, California | Junior college transferred from Saddleback College |

### 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jeff Pollard PF | Bountiful, Utah | Bountiful HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Jun 25, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Vionte Daniels SG | Federal Way, Washington | Federal Way HS | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Apr 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Robert Franks PF | Vancouver, Washington | Evergreen HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 29, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| 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: "2015 Washington St. Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015. "2015 Washington State Cougars Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

Washington State's non-conference will include a trip to the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, where they will play three of the following: Auburn, BYU, Harvard, New Mexico, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma, and host-Hawaii. The Cougars will also host Gonzaga and UTEP.
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| Oct. 30* 8:00 pm | Lewis-Clark State | W 81–74 | – | Beasley Coliseum (1,331) Pullman, Washington |
| Nov. 6* 6:00 pm | Pacific (OR) | W 97–70 | – | Bohler Gym (2,427) Pullman, Washington |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| Nov. 13* 5:30 pm, P12N | Northern Arizona | W 83–70 | 1–0 | Beasley Coliseum (3,011) Pullman, Washington |
| Nov. 20* 8:00 pm, P12N | Idaho State | W 85–67 | 2–0 | Beasley Coliseum (2,662) Pullman, Washington |
| Nov. 24* 8:00 pm, P12N | Cal State Los Angeles | W 74–57 | 3–0 | Beasley Coliseum (1,280) Pullman, Washington |
| Nov. 28* 6:00 pm, P12N | Texas Southern | W 77–65 | 4–0 | Beasley Coliseum (1,604) Pullman, Washington |
| Dec. 2* 8:00 pm, FS1 | No. 13 Gonzaga | L 60–69 | 4–1 | Beasley Coliseum (8,209) Pullman, Washington |
| Dec. 6* 1:00 pm, P12N | Portland State | W 91–67 | 5–1 | Beasley Coliseum (1,806) Pullman, Washington |
| Dec. 10* 6:00 pm | at Idaho Battle of the Palouse | L 74–78 | 5–2 | Cowan Spectrum (3,759) Moscow, Idaho |
| Dec. 13* 3:00 pm, P12N | UTEP | W 84–68 | 6–2 | Beasley Coliseum (1,917) Pullman, Washington |
| Dec. 18* 6:00 pm, P12N | Texas State | W 78–73 $^{OT}$ | 7–2 | Beasley Coliseum (1,233) Pullman, Washington |
| Dec. 22* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. No. 3 Oklahoma Diamond Head Classic Quarterfinals | L 60–88 | 7–3 | Stan Sheriff Center (8,436) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec. 23* 8:30 pm, ESPNU | vs. Northern Iowa Diamond Head Classic Consolation Semifinals | L 59–63 | 7–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,365) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Dec. 25* 10:00 am, ESPN3 | vs. New Mexico Diamond Head Classic 7th Place Game | W 82–59 | 8–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,172) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||
| Jan. 1 6:00 pm, P12N | USC | L 77–90 | 8–5 (0–1) | Beasley Coliseum (2,314) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 3 6:30 pm, P12N | No. 25 UCLA | W 85–78 | 9–5 (1–1) | Beasley Coliseum (1,912) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 9 12:00 pm, P12N | Washington Rivalry | L 95–99 $^{OT}$ | 9–6 (1–2) | Beasley Coliseum (4,025) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 14 5:00 pm, P12N | at Arizona State | L 73–84 | 9–7 (1–3) | Wells Fargo Arena (5,047) Tempe, Arizona |
| Jan. 16 6:30 pm, P12N | at No. 18 Arizona | L 66–90 | 9–8 (1–4) | McKale Center (14,502) Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan. 21 8:00 pm, FS1 | Utah | L 71–92 | 9–9 (1–5) | Beasley Coliseum (2,717) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 23 6:00 pm, P12N | Colorado | L 70–75 | 9–10 (1–6) | Beasley Coliseum (3,321) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 28 7:30 pm, P12N | at USC | L 71–81 | 9–11 (1–7) | Galen Center (4,392) Los Angeles, California |
| Jan. 30 4:00 pm, P12N | at UCLA | L 50–83 | 9–12 (1–8) | Pauley Pavilion (9,024) Los Angeles, California |
| Feb. 3 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 23 Arizona | L 64–79 | 9–13 (1–9) | Beasley Coliseum (3,189) Pullman, Washington |
| Feb. 6 3:30 pm, P12N | Arizona State | L 55–67 | 9–14 (1–10) | Beasley Coliseum (3,448) Pullman, Washington |
| Feb. 11 7:00 pm, P12N | at Colorado | L 81–88 $^{2OT}$ | 9–15 (1–11) | Coors Events Center (7,330) Boulder, Colorado |
| Feb. 14 12:00 pm, P12N | at Utah | L 47–88 | 9–16 (1–12) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,464) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 18 7:00 pm, P12N | Stanford | L 56–72 | 9–17 (1–13) | Beasley Coliseum (2,711) Pullman, Washington |
| Feb. 21 5:30 pm, ESPNU | California | L 62–80 | 9–18 (1–14) | Beasley Coliseum (3,203) Pullman, Washington |
| Feb. 24 7:00 pm, P12N | at No. 13 Oregon | L 62–76 | 9–19 (1–15) | Matthew Knight Arena (8,088) Eugene, Oregon |
| Feb. 28 3:30 pm, P12N | at Oregon State | L 49–69 | 9–20 (1–16) | Gill Coliseum (9,604) Corvallis, Oregon |
| Mar. 2 8:00 pm, ESPNU | at Washington Rivalry | L 91–99 | 9–21 (1–17) | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,655) Seattle, Washington |
| Pac-12 Tournament |||||
| Mar. 9 2:30 pm, P12N | vs. Colorado First round | L 56–80 | 9–22 | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||