November 28, 2009 in Sports

WSU in final

USD next at Great Alaska Shootout

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Associated Press photo

DeAngelo Casto scored 18 points to help the Cougars reach the championship game.
(Full-size photo)

The Washington State University Cougars ran their record to 5-0 with a 78-69 win over Nicholls State on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, and, as a result, moved into the championship of the Great Alaska Shootout.

The Cougars will face San Diego, a 72-65 winner over Houston, in tonight’s final.

Klay Thompson led the Cougars with 21 points and six assists and DeAngelo Casto added 18 and a career-high 14 rebounds, but both sophomores scored their points in bunches.

Thompson had 10 points in the first 9 minutes, 2 seconds of the game, then scored his final 11 in the first 9:29 of the second half. He had seven of those in a 1:05 stretch to expand a WSU three-point lead to 10 with 12:18 left.

From there, Nicholls State, which led 31-29 at the half, would get no closer than seven.

Casto played a big part in that, hitting two 10-foot jumpers to help keep the Colonels (0-7) at bay.

The Cougars kept Nicholls State, from the Southland Conference, in the game by turning the ball over 16 times, 10 in the first half.

But after Casto scored on a fastbreak layup with 16:31 left to give them their first second-half lead at 36-35 – part of six consecutive points the 6-foot-8 post had – WSU went more than 8 minutes without a turnover. That fueled a 25-9 run that was just enough to advance WSU.

Reggie Moore added 14 and Marcus Capers 10 for WSU. The Cougars shot 59.1 percent from the floor and hit half of their 12 3-point shots. WSU outrebounded the Colonels 33-23 and hit 20 of 27 free throws.

Nicholls State’s Fred Hunter, a 6-foot-6 forward, led all scorers with 25 points.

WSU 78, Nicholls State 69

Percentages: FG .439, FT .733. 3-Point Goals: 8-23, .348 (Bose 3-8, Hunter 2-5, Friend 1-3, Franklin Jr. 1-2, Iles 0-3). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 11 (Friend 3, Bose 2, Hunter 2, Franklin Jr. 2, McCallum, Smith). Steals: 6 (Hunter 3, Bose, Ayers, Carter). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .591, FT .741. 3-Point Goals: 6-12, .500 (Thompson 3-6, Moore 2-3, Koprivica 1-2, Harthun 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 5 (Capers 2, Thompson 2, Casto). Turnovers: 16 (Casto 4, Thompson 3, Thames 3, Moore 2, Capers 2, Lodwick, Harthun). Steals: 4 (Thompson 2, Casto, Lodwick). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Nicholls State 31, Washington State 29. A–5,657.

One comment on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  biker on November 28 at 9:42 a.m.

  Great story……..just kidding. How about a little background on the upcoming game with San Diego. Who did San Diego have to beat to get to the Championship game? What is their record and what will the Cougs have to do to secure a win? Are the players excited about the game? Can we view it on television? Looks like I will have to do my own research on one of our high level local teams as they prepare for a big pre-season game. I might just get used to looking elsewhere for LOCAL news and sports.