PULLMAN, Wash. - C.J. Wilcox scored 18 points and Washington beat poor-shooting Washington State 68-63 on Saturday night.
Scott Suggs scored three late baskets to help Washington (9-5, 1-0 Pac-12) successfully begin its defense of last year's Pac-12 regular season title.
Mike Ladd scored 15 points to lead Washington State (9-5, 0-1), which has lost four straight to its cross-state rival.
The Huskies jumped to a big early lead and poor shooting plagued Washington State much of the game.
Washington State was scoreless in the first five minutes of the game to fall behind 9-0. Consecutive 3-pointers by Suggs and Wilcox pushed Washington's lead to 17-4 and the Cougars had trouble even attempting shots on several of their possessions.
Shawn Kemp Jr. made back-to-back dunks as Washington built a 21-4 lead and the Cougars were just 2 of 13 from the field at that point.
Washington State Notes:
· Mike Ladd had a WSU-high 16 points…he’s scored 15 or more points in 3 of the last 5 games.
· Will DiIorio made a career-high 3 3-pointers…he previously had made just one career 3-pointer in his 2 and a half year-WSU career…was 1-for-2 from 3-point in his career coming into the game, was 3-for-4 in Saturday’s game.
· DiIorio finished with a career-high 9 points…his previous high of 7 points came against Sacramento State, Nov. 30, 2010.
· Brock Motum finished with 15 points, 11 of them in the second half…he’s scored at least 14 points in all 14 games this season.
· Four of WSU’s five losses this season have come by 5 points or less, a total of 10 points.
· WSU lost its conference opener for the fourth-straight season and seventh time in 8 seasons…the Cougars drop to 16-29 in conference openers since the formation of the Pacific-8 Conference prior to the 1968-69 season.
· The Cougars have lost the last four meetings with the Huskies.
