Noah Williams matched his career high with 19 points as Washington State rallied again, defeating Idaho 61-58 Wednesday night in the Battle of the Palouse in Pullman, Wash.
Isaac Bonton added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars (4-0), who have trailed at halftime in each of their games this season and been down by double-digits in three of them.
Andrej Jakimovski had 11 points for WSU, shooting 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
DeAndre Robinson led Idaho (0-3) with 14 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Hunter-Jack Madden came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points and Scott Blakney added 12.
WSU used a 19-0 run in the second half to turn a 36-27 deficit with 15 minutes left into a 46-36 lead.
The Cougars led by 12 points with 4:23 remaining, but Idaho went on a 13-2 run to pull within 57-56 on Damen Thacker's jumper from the free-throw line with 50 seconds left.
Bonton's jumper from the elbow put the Cougars up three with 24.9 seconds left before Blakney took a pass from Ja'Vary Christmas and dunked to pull the Vandals within 59-58 with 12.3 seconds to go.
Williams made two free throws with 10 seconds left and the Cougars ran out the clock after Blakney missed inside with seven seconds remaining.
The Vandals led by as many as 11 points in the first half, 25-14, holding WSU scoreless for more than 7 1/2 minutes. Idaho maintained a 29-23 lead at the intermission.
WSU played without junior forward Aljaz Kunz, who averages 9.7 points per game, because of a sprained ankle. Kunz is one of just four upperclassmen on the Cougars' roster.
It was the 276th all-time meeting between the schools, whose campuses are less than 8 miles apart. WSU leads the series 166-110 and has won three in a row.
--Field Level Media
Idaho | Washington St. | |
DeAndre Robinson 14 | Scoring | Noah Williams 19 |
Chance Garvin 3 | Assists | Noah Williams 4 |
DeAndre Robinson 8 | Rebounds | Isaac Bonton 8 |
Hunter-Jack Madden 3 | Free Throws Made | Noah Williams 8 |
Chance Garvin 3 | Steals | Efe Abogidi 2 |
Chance Garvin 1 | Blocks | Volodymyr Markovetskyy 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Idaho | 58 | 37.7 | 7-22 | 5-9 | 12 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 14 |
Washington St. | 61 | 42.6 | 5-11 | 16-26 | 12 | 37 | 6 | 8 | 17 |