The Sports Xchange
Nov 15, 2017
Reserve guard Carter Skaggs scored all of his career-high 26 points in the second half to fuel Washington State's comeback in a 75-59 win over Seattle on Wednesday night in Pullman, Wash.
Skaggs made his first seven shots in the second half, including six 3-pointers, to help the Cougars turn a 10-point deficit into six-point lead with 9:43 left in regulation.
Washington State (2-0) has started the season with two victories in which it trailed by double digits. The Cougars overcame a 22-point deficit against visiting Texas Southern on Sunday to win 86-84 in overtime.
Skaggs shot 8 of 10 from the field, including 7 of 8 from 3-point range. Viont'e Daniels added a career-high 17 points and Arinze Chidom had 11 rebounds.
Seattle (1-2) was led by Richaud Gittens' 18 points and six rebounds. Morgan Means and Josh Hearlihy each had 12 points and Matej Kavas pulled down 12 rebounds.
The Cougars did not score in the last 2:06 of the first half and trailed 31-26 at intermission.
WSU's drought continued until 18:33 was left in regulation. Seattle outscored Washington State 11-0 in that span, building a lead of 36-26.
That's when Skaggs, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, got hot.
His 3-pointer with 15:36 left tied the score at 40. That started a stretch in which Skaggs scored 14 consecutive points for the Cougars, culminating with a 3-pointer to give them a 54-48 lead with 9:43 left.
Washington State pulled away with an 11-0 run, taking a 65-50 lead with 5:28 left on a layup by Malachi Flynn, who finished with 13 points.