Isaac Jones’ 18 points led four players in double figures on Friday night as Washington State led nearly wire-to-wire in an 83-65 nonconference win over Prairie View A&M in Pullman, Wash.
Jones added 11 rebounds, while Oscar Cluff came off the bench for 17 points, making all five of his field goals and going 7 of 8 at the foul line, as the Cougars (2-0) canned nearly 54 percent of their field goal attempts. Myles Rice scored 15 and Andrej Jakimovski added 14 points.
Charles Smith pumped in a game-high 22 points for the Panthers (1-2), although he made just 6 of 19 field goal attempts. Chris Felix scored 15 and Nick Gazelas added 11 points.
Prairie View A&M couldn’t match Washington State’s offensive efficiency, canning only 35.4 percent of its field goal attempts and going just 4 of 13 from the 3-point line. The Panthers also had trouble on the glass, where the Cougars owned a 44-31 advantage, and were outscored 29-5 off the bench.
Gazelas’ jumper with 10:55 remaining pulled Prairie View A&M within 58-48 but it couldn’t get the game under 10. Washington State got a jumper from Cluff and a 3-point play from Rice for a 15-point advantage at the 9:23 mark, and never really looked back.
Prairie View A&M led briefly on a couple of occasions in the first half before Washington State established control. Beginning with Cluff’s layup at the 16:22 mark, the Cougars rattled off a game-changing 12-0 run and didn’t allow a point for 3:48.
Later in the half, Washington State ripped off nine straight points for a 30-13 advantage on Joseph Yesefu’s mid-range jumper with 8:30 remaining. At that point, the Panthers made some inroads into the deficit, pulling within 37-28 on a short shot by McKinley Harris.
But the Cougars were able to restore a double-digit lead just before the half as Cluff hit a hook shot and made a pair of foul shots. They headed for the locker room with a comfortable 43-30 lead.
–Field Level Media