Washington State 76, Rice 74: DaVonte Lacy hit two free throws with eight seconds remaining as the Cougars held off the Owls in a consolation bracket game at the Great Alaska Shootout.
Sophomore Josh Hawkinson, who was held to three points in the Cougars’ first-round loss to UC Santa Barbara, had a career-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting and added eight rebounds and two blocks. Lacy had 15 points and Dexter Kernich-Drew added 12 for Washington State (2-3), which will play Missouri State on Saturday in the fifth-place game. .
Seth Gearhart scored 22 points and Marcus Jackson added 14 for the Owls (1-4), who play host Alaska-Anchorage in the seventh-place game. Max Guercy had 11 points and six rebounds and Dan Peera chipped in 10 points.
Peera hit a 3-pointer to pull the Owls within 70-65 with 55 seconds remaining, the closest Rice had been since making the first bucket of the second half to trail by four. Ny Redding made 5-of-6 free throws to put the Cougars up 74-68 with 23 seconds remaining, but Jackson's layup and a pair of free throws by Gearhart had the Owls within 74-72 before Lacy hit two from the line with eight seconds to go.
A night after making only three baskets in the first half, the Cougars started hot against the Owls with a 12-0 run over the first five minutes and pushed the lead to 29-15 on a 3-pointer by Kernich-Drew with 8:36 left in the half. The Owls rallied on Andrew Drone's layup and four straight Maurice Rivers free throws to pull within 37-31 before the Cougars settled for a 39-33 halftime lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington State matched its total of three field goals Friday in a less than one minute span early in the first half Saturday. … The Cougars shot a season-best 47.1 percent from the field a day after shooting 22.8 percent against UC-Santa Barbara.
Rice | Washington St. | |
Seth Gearhart 22 | Scoring | Josh Hawkinson 27 |
Marcus Jackson 5 | Assists | Ny Redding 8 |
Maurice Rivers 8 | Rebounds | Josh Hawkinson 8 |
Seth Gearhart 6 | Free Throws Made | DaVonte Lacy 9 |
Dan Peera 1 | Steals | DaVonte Lacy 2 |
Van Green 1 | Blocks | Josh Hawkinson 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Rice | 74 | 40.0 | 8-22 | 14-20 | 17 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
Washington St. | 76 | 47.1 | 7-15 | 21-29 | 21 | 32 | 5 | 4 | 10 |