Myles Rice scored a career-high 35 points as Washington State never trailed in defeating host Stanford 89-75 in a Pac-12 Conference game Thursday night.
Rice hit five 3-pointers and added eight assists and four steals. Isaac Jones, the reigning Naismith national player of the week, scored 24 points, Jaylen Wells added 13 and Oscar Cluff recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Cougars (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12), who won their third in a row.
WSU dominated inside, outscoring the Cardinal 58-28 in the paint and 14-2 in second-chance points. The Cougars shot 54.3 percent (38 of 70).
Freshman Kanaan Carlyle led the Cardinal (9-8, 4-3) with a season-high 31 points but also turned the ball over six times. Maxime Raynaud added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Benny Gealer scored 12 as Stanford had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Stanford guard Jared Bynum, who entered the week atop the Pac-12 and 10th nationally with 6.5 assists per game, missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Forward Spencer Jones (wrist) also sat out.
The Cougars built a 42-29 halftime lead as Rice scored 16 points and Jones added 15.
WSU held the Cardinal scoreless in the opening 3:29, taking a 6-0 lead.
Stanford pulled within 21-18 before the Cougars went on a 13-0 run. Wells scored the first five points of the spurt with a layup and 3-pointer, and Jones made a jumper in the lane sandwiched by a pair of treys by Rice.
The Cougars led 56-37 with 14:49 left, before Stanford made a late rally.
Carlyle's 3-pointer pulled the Cardinal within 70-60 with 5:09 left, causing WSU coach Kyle Smith to call a timeout.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes.
The Cardinal pulled within nine, 82-73, on a free throw by Michael Jones with 2:30 remaining but never got any closer.
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