PULLMAN, Wash. – Home-standing Washington State shot 76 percent from the field in the second half and held off Missouri State, 91-78, here Saturday in the Bears’ final road non-conference game.
Dez White led five Bears in double figures with 16 points, while Jalen Hampton posted his third double-double of the campaign with 11 points and 11 boards. Missouri State (5-5) also got 14 points from Vincent Brady II, 12 from Zaxton King and 11 from Michael Osei-Bonsu.
Washington State (9-2) was led by 20 points apiece from Dane Erikstrup and Isaiah Watts with LeJuan Watts going 7-for-7 from the field as part of his 17-point outing.
After trailing by seven at the intermission, the Bears came out of the break firing with four treys in the opening four minutes to cut their deficit to three. Washington State was equal to the task making its first four field goal attempts, including a pair of triples to maintain its advantage.
But coming out of the under-16 media timeout, Wazzu embarked on an 18-5 scoring run over a five-plus minute stretch to take its biggest lead of the night, 62-46 with 9:34 to play. In that run, the Cougars splashed in four threes, including two by Isaiah Watts.
The deficit would swell to 18 before three straight three-pointers from Dez White drew the Bears back within 70-58 at the 5:48 mark. The Bears would close the gap to 12 on two occasions down the stretch, including a dunk by Hampton with 1:15 to go that made it an 86-74 game.
The Cougars finished 32-of-51 (.627) overall from the field, 9-for-21 (.429) from beyond the arc – including four treys by Watts – and 18-for-28 (.643) at the stripe.
Missouri State was a respectable 31-for-64 (.484) from the field, 10-for-26 (.385) from distance and 6-of-15 (.400) at the line with a 32-28 rebounding advantage, 10 steals and 16 assists. Brady led the Bears with 6 assists.
In the first half, the Bears used a 9-0 run in the opening four minutes to lead 9-2 out of the gates and held on to the advantage until the midway point of the stanza. Vincent Brady II’s bucket at 10:50 was followed by a 11-3 surge from Cougars to push the home side ahead 25-19.
MoState answered with two buckets from Dez White and a long jumper from Wesley Oba to knot the score, 25-25, at the 5:36 mark. However, Washington State ended the half on a 9-2 outburst to lead 34-27 at the midway point.
Missouri State will close out its non-conference schedule with a pair of home games in the coming week. The Bears entertain Lincoln University on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m., before hosting UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m., both at Great Southern Bank Arena.
