Jahii Carson scored 25 points and Arizona State defeated Washington State 63-59 Thursday night for its third straight victory.
Evan Gordon had 13 points, and Carrick Felix added 11 points — all in the second half — and 11 rebounds for the Sun Devils (17-4, 6-2 Pac-12), who overcame 4-for-11 free-throw shooting and a nine-point Washington State first-half lead.
Royce Woolridge scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (11-10, 2-6). Mike Ladd had 14 points, and Brock Motum matched Felix with 11 points and 11 boards. Dexter Kernich-Drew scored 10 points for WSU.
The Sun Devils are 6-2 in the conference for the first time since 1994, and are off to their best start since 1981, when ASU began 19-2 behind Byron Scott, Fat Lever and Alton Lister.
Neither team led by more than nine points, and the game featured 10 lead changes. WSU led 28-24 at halftime.
ASU led 58-51, but Woolridge had five points in a 7-0 run that drew the Cougars even. Carson’s three-point play put the Sun Devils back on top, and after a Cougar free throw, Carson scored with 16 seconds to play for the final margin.
Carson and Felix accounted for all but five of Arizona State’s second-half points.
The Sun Devils committed four turnovers in the game — none by guards Carson, Felix and Gordon. WSU was 7 of 14 from 3-point range in the first half but 2 of 9 the rest of the way.
At California 71, Oregon State 68 — Richard Solomon’s dunk with 17.6 seconds remaining capped a big run by Cal over the final eight minutes as the Golden Bears rallied from 12 points down in the second half.
Allen Crabbe had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Justin Cobbs added 14 points and matched his season high of seven assists to help fifth-year California coach Mike Montgomery to his 100th victory at the school.
The Golden Bears (12-8, 4-4 Pac-12) trailed most of the second half and were down 59-53 before Crabbe and Cobbs combined to score 12 of Cal’s final 18 points.
Roberto Nelson scored 25 points for Oregon State (11-10, 1-7). The Beavers had two chances to score after Solomon’s basket but failed to get a shot off.
At Eastern Washington 72, Montana State 68 — Collin Chiverton scored 20 points, leading the Eagles (6-15, 4-7 Big Sky). EWU also got 15 points from Parker Kelly and 13 points from Kevin Winford.
Venky Jois chipped in with 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Montana State (9-10, 6-5) had a rough shooting night, hitting 30 percent of its shots from the floor and 3-point range and 69 percent of its attempts from the free-throw line.
Montana State had a 15-3 advantage in second-chance points, while Eastern Washington countered with a 26-22 scoring edge in the paint and 25-18 edge off the bench.
Montana 81, at Portland State 68 — Will Cherry scored 16 points, Mathias Ward added 15, and Big Sky Conference leader Montana won its 11th consecutive game.
Cherry also had seven rebounds and six assists. Keron DeShields chipped in 13 points off the bench for the Grizzlies (15-4, 11-0), who maintained their two-game conference lead over second-place Weber State.
Aaron Moore had 14 points for the Vikings (5-13, 3-8), who lost their fifth straight. Portland State, playing its first home game in 19 days, outrebounded Montana 32-23 but committed 12 turnovers that the Grizzlies turned into 17 points.
Portland State led for much of the first half, but Montana closed on a 10-2 run to lead 39-31 at halftime. The Grizzlies never looked back, increasing their lead to as many as 17 points in the second half.
Montana shot 56 percent from the floor, including 67 percent after halftime.
At Santa Clara 70, Portland 46 — Marc Trasolini collected his sixth double-double of the season with 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Broncos (17-6, 5-3 West Coast).
Portland (8-15, 1-7) did not score its first field goal until 8:33 remained in the first half.
Portland shot 25 percent from the field (13 of 52) and was 2 of 12 from 3-point range.
Santa Clara has allowed fewer than 20 first-half points five times this season. Portland’s 18 first-half points were its lowest total this season.
At Seattle 56, San Jose State 48 — Prince Obasi had 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, leading the Redhawks.
Seattle (7-13, 2-8 WAC) trailed 22-20 at halftime but started the second half on a 21-9 run capped off by Obasi’s lay-up with 7:41 remaining in the game to give the Redhawks a 41-31 lead.
Louis Green had 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for Seattle.
