The Sports Xchange
Nov 18, 2017
Robert Franks scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out eight assists to lead Washington State to an 83-62 win over Idaho State on Saturday at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash.
Malachi Flynn scored 15 points and Arinze Chidom added 14 points for the Cougars.
Balint Mocsan led the Bengals with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Idaho State's leading scorer coming into the game, Brandon Boyd (17.5 points per game), was held to seven points on 2 of 10 from the field.
The Bengals, of the Big Sky Conference, fell to 0-3.
The Cougars needed to rally in the second half to come away with wins in its first two games and on Saturday. Washington State used a second-half run to put away a pesky Bengals squad.
For a team ranked No. 321 by kenpom.com, Idaho State was able to hang with the Cougars in the first half.
The Cougars opened the second half with a 35-31 lead and saw the Bengals score first to cut the deficit to two. Over the next five minutes, Washington State nursed the lead to eight at 56-48.
Both teams were unable to score for nearly two minutes until Milan Acquaah stole the ball and dunked to put Washington State up 58-48.
By the time Kwinton Hinson sank a free throw, Washington State's lead was 70-53.
Idaho State was unable to stop the Cougars from beyond the arc as Washington State connected on 15 of 34 attempts (44 percent).