SEATTLE — Klay Thompson scored Washington State’s first nine points and 18 of his 35 in the first half, and the Cougars nearly blew all of an early 20-point lead before pulling away from Portland 84-68 on Tuesday night.
Playing their annual game at Seattle’s KeyArena, the Cougars (3-0) jumped to a 24-4 lead, then had to fend off a furious rally from the Pilots in the second half. Portland cut the deficit in half before halftime and pulled within 57-56 with 11 minutes remaining before the Cougars put it out of reach.
WSU scored 23 of the next 27 points to build its lead back to 80-60. Faisal Aden added 21 points for the Cougars.
Marysville-Pilchuck High alum Jared Stohl led Portland (4-2) with 21 points and Nemanja Mitrovic added 17 for the Pilots.
Thompson, the Cougars’ sharp-shooting guard and second-leading scorer, made his first four shots and six of his first seven. He made 13 of 16 shots overall, including a trio of 3-pointers as the Cougars made 11 of 21 from deep.
But it certainly didn’t go as easily as Washington State expected after bolting to an early 20-point lead.
Behind the shooting of Stohl and Mitrovic, the Pilots — whose only loss before Tuesday was to No. 8 Kentucky — trailed by 12 at halftime and quickly gave the Cougars a scare in the opening moments of the second half.
Following Thompson’s 3-pointer with 14:57 to play, Washington State went scoreless for more than three minutes and the Pilots took advantage. Portland scored seven straight to get within 57-53, and after a timeout, Mitrovic’s 3-pointer got the Pilots within one.
That’s when the Cougars pulled away. Thompson scored on a jumper and freshman Patrick Simon hit one of his two 3-pointers to push the lead to six and begin a 22-4 run. Portland went more than 6½ minutes with just one field goal — a 3-pointer by Stohl.
Thompson and Aden were the only two Cougars to score in double figures, while guard Marcus Capers added nine points. The Cougars shot nearly 59 percent.
Aden, a transfer from Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla., has continued to fill in more than admirably while Cougars starting point guard Reggie Moore is out with a wrist injury. Aden made 8 of 15 shots and has scored 18 or more points in all three of Washington State’s games.
Stohl made five of 12 3-point attempts for the Pilots, who were playing their third game in five days. But the Cougars did a much better job in the second half on the Pilots’ shooting star, holding Stohl to just five points after the break. Portland followed up its loss to Kentucky with a victory the next night at Idaho.
Luke Sikma, the son of former Seattle SuperSonics center Jack Sikma, added 12 points and six rebounds.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
