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Washington State pulled away from Mississippi State in the second half for a dominant 83-57 win in the first game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Behind WSU guard Klay Thompson’s 28 points, the Cougars (9-1) advanced to tomorrow’s semifinals to play the winner of No. 15 Baylor and San Diego.
After trailing 40-39 at the half, WSU broke the game open with a 20-4 run, fueled by five consecutive 3-point makes. WSU of the Pac-10 Conference shot 55.2 percent in the second half and outscored MSU 44-17 in the period. In comparison, the Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference shot just 25 percent after halftime.
The Cougars shot 12-for-24 on 3-pointers, posting new DHC records for 3s made and 3-point percentage in the second year of the event.
“We usually don’t shoot 50 percent (on 3-pointers), but we’re not bad,” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “We can shoot the 3. We’re in good shape physically, and the guys played well together as a group tonight. Going into Day 2, we’re in good shape.”
Guard Faisal Aden added 20 points off the bench for WSU.
Forward Kodi Augustus had a team-high 19 points for the Bulldogs (7-4), who were without top forward Renardo Sidney. Sidney was suspended for one game on Monday for conduct detrimental to the team.
