Wazzu Doubles Up Beavers

The Washington State University Cougar men's hoop team scored 42 points in both halves and defeated Oregon State, 84-70 at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. With the win, the Cougars break and three-game losing streak and claim their first Pac-10 conference win of the year to improve to 1-2 in conference play and 11-4 overall.

Each team scored on their first possession of the game, with Oregon State taking a 2-0 lead and Wazzu responding with a three-ball from sophomore point guard Reggie Moore. Then there was nearly a four-and-a-half minute scoring drought from both teams before the Beavers broke through with a trey to take a 5-3 lead. Junior guard Faisal Aden fired up a three to give the Cougars the 6-5 lead and after a layup from DeAngelo Casto gave Wazzu an 8-5 lead, Oregon State tied it up at 8-8. The Cougars took off on a 9-0 run to take a 17-8 lead. Wazzu held their advantage for the remainder of the half and extended their lead out to 19 points - at 41-22 - at one point before a final Beaver scoring flurry closed the gap to 12 at 42-30 going into the locker room at halftime.

Wazzu opened up their second half scoring with a three-ball from junior Abe Lodwick to give the Cougars a 45-32 lead but Oregon State fought back with an 11-2 run to close the gap to six points at 47-41 with 16:10 remaining in the game. The Beavers stayed within double digits for much of the second half and cut the lead all the way down to four points at 61-57 with 7:33 remaining when a layup by Thompson and two dunks from Casto gave Wazzu a 10-point margin with 6:08 left in the game. From there, a dunk and a trey from Thompson gave the Cougars a 13-point lead at 72-59 with 4:05 remaining and Wazzu cruised home for the victory.

Thompson led all scorers with 29 points while three other Cougars joined him in double digits - Aden with 15 points, junior Marcus Capers with 12 points and Casto with 11 points. Thompson also had a double-double, leading the Cougars with 10 rebounds.

NOTES

- Capers' 12 points was his second-highest scoring output of the season [Capers had 14 in Wazzu's win over Santa Clara].

Washington State University continues their Pac-10 season with a game against Oregon at 7:30PM on Saturday, January 8, at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. The game is scheduled to be televised by Fox Sports

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