WSU Men's Hoops | Klay Thompson scores 37 points in Cougar victory

PULLMAN — Klay Thompson went 15 for 20 and scored a career-high 37 points as Washington State beat IPFW 89-70 on Thursday night.

Freshman Reggie Moore added nine points for Washington State (3-0).

IPFW (1-2) was led by Deilvez Yearby, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. Zach Plackemeier and Nick Daniels had 13 each for IPFW.

"It seemed like tonight the basket was 5 feet in diameter for Klay," said first-year Washington State coach Ken Bone. "He has been told to shoot and look to score whenever he gets the ball. Tonight we saw what he was capable of."

Thompson was 5 for 5 from the free-throw line and did not have a turnover.

"When a kid plays as many minutes as Klay does and does not have a turnover, it's an impressive performance," Bone said.

Thompson, who scored 28 against Arizona State in 2009 as a freshman, said: "It just felt good. I have never shot that well in my life, at least not in college."

After an opening three-pointer by Moore, Thompson hit the next five shots of the game. Thompson scored 22 in the first half, giving the Cougars a 44-31 lead heading into the locker room. Thompson went 10 for 12, including 2 for 2 from the three-point line, in the half.

Roundup

At No. 1 Kansas 94,

Central Arkansas 44

Tyrel Reed hit four three-pointers for 12 points and the Jayhawks (3-0) scored 23 straight points in the first half to overwhelm Central Arkansas (1-2).

At No. 4 Kentucky 102,

Sam Houston St. 92

DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 18 rebounds to help Kentucky prevail. Patrick Patterson had 20 points and nine boards and John Wall added 21 points and six assists as the Wildcats (3-0) overcame a record-setting performance by the Bearkats.

Sam Houston State (2-1) hung around deep into the second half behind stellar three-point shooting, led by senior guard Corey Allmond, who poured in 37 points and made a Rupp Arena record 11 three-pointers.

No. 5 Villanova 69,

George Mason 68

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, freshman Isaiah Armwood hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying Villanova (3-0) past George Mason (2-1) in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

No. 6 North Carolina 77,

No. 15 Ohio St. 73

In New York, Deon Thompson had 15 points and 12 rebounds and North Carolina managed to hold on for a victory over Ohio State in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. The Tar Heels (4-0), who led by 19 points with 10:23 to play, will face Syracuse tonight.

The Buckeyes (2-1) finally started hitting from the outside at the same time the Tar Heels starting missing free throws, and Ohio State cut its deficit to 75-73 on a three by Jon Diebler with 11 seconds left.

Larry Drew II, who missed four of his previous six free throws in the final minute, then made two from the line with 11 seconds left for the final margin.

Syracuse 95,

No. 13 California 73

In New York, Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse ran past California in the 2K Sports Classic.

Syracuse confounded the Bears (2-1) from the tip, building a double-digit lead by halftime. The Orange then put the game away with a brutally efficient 15-4 run early in the second half.

Jerome Randle finished with 25 points for Cal (2-1), while Jamal Boykin had 14 and Patrick Christopher 12.

At Arizona 66, Rice 49

Nic Wise had 15 points, seven assists and five steals and Jamelle Horne scored eight of his 13 in the final 5 ½ minutes to help Arizona pull away from Rice (3-1).

Solomon Hill and Derrick Williams scored 12 and 10, respectively, for Arizona, 2-0 under new coach Sean Miller.