National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Nebraska Omaha 85, Washington St. 77
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 21, 2019
Where: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Washington
Officials: # Bob Staffen, # Chris Rastatter, # Michael Greenstein
Attendance: 2204

Senior guard KJ Robinson scored 18 of his season-high 20 points in the second half as Nebraska Omaha rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat host Washington State 85-77 Thursday in a nonconference game in Pullman, Wash.

JT Gibson added 18 points, Ayo Akinwole had 14 and Zach Thornhill scored 11 for the Mavericks (3-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak and beat a Pacific-12 team for the first time in seven tries. Forward Matt Pile added a game-high 14 rebounds.

CJ Elleby matched a career-high with 27 points for WSU (2-2) and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Isaac Bonton scored 18 points, Aljaz Kunc added 13 and Jeff Pollard tallied 12.

After taking a 48-35 halftime lead, the Cougars shot just 7 of 35 from the field in the second half, including 5 of 22 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Omaha took a 6-0 lead as WSU missed its first five shots. The Mavericks led for over 12 minutes of the first half before Pollard's 3-pointer tied the score at 27-27 with 6:54 left, sparking an 11-0 run. Bonton's 3-pointer with 6:29 left gave the Cougars their first lead of the game.

WSU extended its advantage to 15 points early in the second half before the Mavericks rallied, in part because the Cougars missed 15 of 16 field-goal attempts in one stretch.

Robinson's 3-pointer with 5:49 remaining gave Omaha a 67-65 lead and it never trailed again.

WSU made just two field goals in the final 7:11, a 3-pointer and layup by Bonton -- both in the final 12 seconds.

The Cougars played without starting guard Jaylen Shead, who suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury in a 72-61 victory against Idaho State on Sunday.

The Mavericks held a 29-3 edge in bench scoring.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Nebraska Omaha   Washington St.
KJ Robinson 20 Scoring CJ Elleby 27
Ayo Akinwole 2 Assists Isaac Bonton 6
Matt Pile 14 Rebounds CJ Elleby 9
KJ Robinson 6 Free Throws Made CJ Elleby 9
N/A Steals Isaac Bonton 1
Matt Pile 1 Blocks Aljaz Kunc 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Nebraska Omaha 85 49.2 7-19 20-24 8 39 1 0 10
Washington St. 77 34.8 12-35 17-21 12 34 2 1 5