LAS VEGAS — Kyle Smith joked that he considered it a victory when his team was only down 2 points at the first media timeout Thursday night. Slow starts have been a bit of a thorn in the side of Washington State, but the early deficit quickly vanished as several players contributed to a run that flipped the game.

By the end of the run, the Cougars had a 10-point advantage with 8:39 to play in the first half capped by a bucket from Isaac Jones. Jaylen Wells hit two 3-pointers during that stretch and Andrej Jakimovski contributed with a 3-pointer in what ended up as a 13-point performance for the WSU forward.

From that point on the Cougars would never look back en route to a 79-62 win punching their ticket to the semifinal round Friday night in Las Vegas. WSU will face third-seeded Colorado with an opportunity to play for the tournament title on the line.

"We got on top of them and for the most part played really well," Smith said after the game. "Just unselfish. We were 11 assists and 3 turnovers at halftime, which is really good for us. We kept them off the 3 for the first half, then they got some late when we had a cushion. They're a very explosive team that can make 15,16 3s.

"So, we're happy to get this one done but we got another one [Friday] night, and hopefully we come out with the same energy and effort."

After taking its double-digit lead, Wazzu only allowed the Cardinal to get under 10 points once the rest of the way. The Cougars' lead ballooned to as much as 24 points in the second half and only was ever as close as 14 the rest of the way.

WSU continued to have an answer for any attempt at a comeback by Stanford thanks to contributions from all over the floor.

Six different Cougs finished in double figures led by 16 points for Jones. Wells and Myles Rice had 14 apiece while Kymany Houinsou pitched in with 11 and Rueben Chinyelu had 10 points off the bench.

"We're an unselfish group," Rice said about the contributions from 11 players in Thursday's game. "We love to see the next person win, so I think that kind of went out and displayed tonight. We had 18 assists, and it's been a long time since we've been in that category.

"It was just a great atmosphere for us to share the ball, and see everybody get going. So, I think if we just keep doing that the sky is the limit for us."

WSU's matchup with Colorado is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip at T-Mobile Arena. A win over the Buffaloes would mark the first appearance in the conference title game for the Cougars.