WSU leads 48-36 at the half

COUGARS

It’s halftime at the Key and WSU leads 48-36. The Cougars started on fire, and Portland didn’t. It’s not as if the Pilots weren’t defending. Maybe not as well as they did later in the half, but WSU, led by Klay Thompson, were just getting good looks mainly because of their size. … Thompson had no trouble seeing the hoop, finishing the half with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. Faisal Aden had 12 as all eight Cougars who played scored. The Pilots were more of a two-man show, with Luke Sikma (9 points) carrying them early and Jared Stohl (16 points, 4 of 5 on 3-pointers) late. … WSU jumped ahead 24-4 with a little more than 12 minutes before intermission before finally cooling down. The Pilots battled and cut the lead down to nine twice, the last time with 2:58 remaining at 40-31. … While Marcus Capers was on the court, Stohl took two shots and scored five points. … DeAngelo Casto officially has three blocks though I had him with four. … Paul Wulff and about 10 football players addressed the crowd at halftime. … We’ll be back on Twitter at vinceg55 and here after the game.