A 12-0 spurt early in the second half gave host Washington control of its Apple Cup rivalry game with Washington State, allowing the Huskies to post an 85-67 win Saturday night in both teams' Pac-12 opener in Seattle.

Trailing 46-45 after Jervae Robinson canned a 3-pointer in transition with 16:59 left in the game, the Huskies (10-4) called a timeout and then got to work.

Noah Dickerson's dunk started the game-changing run, and Jaylen Nowell finished it with a 3-pointer at the 14:05 mark for a 57-46 lead.

The Cougars (7-7) never got closer than eight the rest of the way as they couldn't find a way to get stops. Washington converted 65.2 percent of its field goal tries after halftime and finished the night at 56.6 percent, earning a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint.

David Crisp paced the Huskies with 23 points, 13 of them in the first half. Nowell added 20 to go along with eight rebounds and five assists, and Matisse Thybulle scored 17 points on just four field goal tries. He went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and drilled all six free throws.

CJ Elleby produced a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double for Washington State, which also got 14 points from Robinson.

It was "defense optional" at times during the first half as both teams scored freely. Washington led 15-11 at the first TV timeout, 4:30 into the game.

The Huskies followed with the first run of the night, peeling off an 11-2 spurt and taking a 13-point advantage at the 10:18 mark of the half when Dickerson dunked off a Nahziah Carter assist.

Washington State responded with a 19-7 run, using a 3-point play by Marvin Cannon to pull within 33-32 with 5:40 left.

Washington fired the last shot in the half, turning a Cougars' shot clock violation into a length-of-the-floor dash by Nowell that he converted with a floater as time expired.

It gave him 11 points for the half and enabled the Huskies to take a 43-38 lead.

--Field Level Media