Washington St. Cougars vs Colorado Buffaloes Match Player Stats On Mar 11, 2020

CJ Elleby scored 30 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead No. 11 seed Washington State to an 82-68 upset win over No. 6 Colorado in an opening-round game of the Pac-12 tournament at Las Vegas.

Washington State (16-16) won its first game in the conference tournament since 2009, when it was known as the Pac-10. That win was 62-40 over Oregon in Los Angeles when Tony Bennett coached the Cougars.

Elleby made 10 of 17 shots from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, and he also had five assists.

Isaac Bonton added 15 points and six assists for the Cougars, who will play No. 3 Arizona State in a quarterfinal game Thursday.

Colorado (21-11) was led by McKinley Wright's 21 points and nine rebounds. Tyler Bey added 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had eight rebounds.

Wright, a point guard, had only one assist in 37 minutes. Colorado, which lost for the first time in a first-round game of the Pac-12 tournament, finished with four assists.

Elleby had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting in the first half to lead Washington State to a 35-25 halftime lead.

Colorado was cold from the field in the first half, shooting 9 of 30 from the field while missing all eight of its attempts from 3-point range.

Elleby and Bonton nearly outscored Colorado in the first half combining for 22 points on 8 of 22 shooting from the field. They were 4 of 9 from 3-point range.

Two 3-pointers by Elleby and another by Bonton to start the second half increased Washington State's lead to 44-26 with 17:42 left in regulation.

Washington State's lead grew to 57-36 on another 3-pointer by Elleby with 12:41 remaining.

Wright made Colorado's first 3-pointer with 11:30 left. It was part of a 9-0 run that cut the lead to 57-45.

The Cougars, who made 70.0 percent of their shots in the second half, responded by building a 70-50 lead with 5:59 left.

--Field Level Media