As the snow fell and the light faded in Pullman on Friday evening, stars were rising inside Beasley Coliseum. The Cougar men’s basketball team gave first-year Head Coach Ken Bone his first regular season win in Pullman.

WSU came out strong and put on an offensive show as they took down Mississippi Valley State 94-66.

Sophomore Klay Thompson led the team with 20 points, eight of which came from the free throw line.

“I think I’ve mentioned this before that Klay’s been doing a great job of attacking the glass in practice,” Bone said. “We’re trying to get him to be more of a multi-dimensional scorer, not just a shooter. He’s continually getting better and better at that.” The 94 points put up by WSU was the team’s highest total in one game since 2003, when the Cougars scored 98 against Eastern Washington.

Besides Thompson, three other Cougars scored double digits. Sophomore DeAngelo Casto put forth a career-high 18 points, and he added four rebounds and three blocks. Fellow sophomores Michael Harthun and Marcus Capers each added 10 points.

The story of the game was the Cougars’ ability to dominate the paint. WSU out-rebounded the Delta Devils 50-25. Redshirt sophomore Abe Lodwick led the way with nine rebounds in 16 minutes of playing time.

“I think everybody contributed to (the rebounding),” Casto said. “We had a lot of tip outs and just kept the ball alive, so I was able to get some (rebounds), Abe was able to get some, (and) Charlie (Enquist) was able to get some.” Casto also pointed out how the other WSU guards made good effort in rebounding.

Although the Cougars came out impressive, they did struggle in certain areas. One issue Bone spoke about in his post-game interview was the 19 turnovers the Delta Devils forced on the Cougars.

“As a team, we need to take care of the ball better,” Bone said. “Nineteen turnovers – I’m glad it wasn’t on TV (with) Dick Bennett watching it in Wisconsin. That would be embarrassing.” Freshman point guard Reggie Moore made his second consecutive start for the Cougars and performed well with 10 points. He also led the team with six assists. Fellow freshman Xavier Thames also saw plenty of action leading the bench with 18 minutes played. He had seven points and two assists of his own. In all, the Cougars finished with 20 assists.

“Those two guys did a good job,” Bone said on the play of his two freshmen. “I think they’re playing confident, which is good to see.” Next up for WSU will be a matchup against Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. Monday at Friel Court.

“I don’t know much about them, but I think they’d be pretty fired up playing a Pac-10 school on the same side of the state (as) them,” Thompson said. “I think they’ll be excited, and we’ll be ready for it.”