Freshman guard Reggie Moore stepped up for WSU Saturday as he knocked down 7-8 free throws in the final minute of regulation to secure the Cougars’ dramatic 77-73 victory over Stanford.

After trailing by 20 at halftime and 17 with eight minutes left, the Cardinal made a late surge that brought the team within 2 points as the clock winded down.

At the beginning of the game, it appeared as though the Cougars were headed toward their third-straight loss after allowing Stanford to jump out to a 10-2 lead.

With 16 and a half minutes remaining in the half, Head Coach Ken Bone went to his bench early by bringing in freshman guard Xavier Thames, redshirt freshman forward James Watson and senior guard Nikola Koprivica, who all jump-started WSU for an offensive explosion.

“The kids off the bench tonight did an outstanding job,” Bone said. “(Sophomore forward) Charlie Enquist had a lot of energy and helped us tremendously. We are really pleased with the guys that came off the bench.” Koprivica, who finished with 10 points, had 8 points off the bench in the first half, including a three-point shot that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game at 13-10.

From then on, it was all WSU. The Cougars closed the half by going on a 44-16 run to go into the locker room with a 46-26 lead.

Sophomore guard Klay Thompson, who had been struggling as of late, went off in the first half by scoring 17 points off 7-11 shooting. Thompson appeared to cool off a bit in the second half, but still led all scorers with 27 points.

“Klay was really shooting it well early, but when you play 37 minutes, at some point you’re going to wear down, especially the way teams guard him,” Bone said.

The Cougars shot an impressive 53.3 percent from the field in the first half. Meanwhile, Stanford shot an anemic 25.8 percent from the floor.

To start the second half, the Cardinal began chipping away at the Cougars’ 20-point halftime lead, even getting within 12 after only a few minutes.

Bone switched the team into a 2-3 zone defense that seemed to fluster the Cardinal offense, opening up some big defensive plays.

For example, sophomore guard Marcus Capers, following a Cougar turnover, sprinted down the court and soared high into the air to block a Cardinal lay-in attempt.

Enquist had two big-time shot blocks that set off an explosion in the student section. He played 13 minutes, tying his season high. He finished with 4 points, four rebounds and two blocks.

“Charlie did a great job, no doubt about it,” Bone said.

Late in the game, the Cardinal showed that it was not ready to throw in the towel. Stanford brought its deficit down to 64-60 after the Cardinal’s Jeremy Green knocked down a three with more than four minutes left.

The two teams went into a see-saw battle for the remainder of the game, and Stanford came as close as 2 points.

However, Moore’s clutch free-throw shooting kept the Cougars on top and secured their third conference win on the season.

“With him knocking down free throws, we were able to keep the lead and all we have to do is get stops,” Capers said. “It’s really critical that we have someone like that on the team.”