Washington St rallies in 2nd half, tops Texas Southern in OT

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Robert Franks had 25 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in regulation, Malachi Flynn added 19 points and eight assists, and Washington State overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Texas Southern 86-84 in overtime on Sunday.

Texas Southern led by 18 points at halftime but had a late four-minute scoring drought before Kevin Scott scored with 42 seconds left in regulation for a two-point lead.

The momentum changed on Viont'e Daniels' 3-pointer with 4:12 left, pulling the Cougars within 70-64. Daniels drew a charge on the other end and Flynn's layup made it a four-point deficit.

Carter Skaggs scored six points in the final 2:04 of regulation for the Cougars, including two game-tying free throws with 42 seconds left.

Washington State established the lead early in overtime with a 3-pointer from Flynn. He was just 2 of 11 from distance, but both makes came in overtime.

"I don't think I made a shot in the first half, but you just have to come back and keep shooting," Flynn said. "That's just the mentality you need to have."

Milan Acquaah added 12 points for Washington State (1-0), including a 3-point play with two minutes remaining in overtime. Franks made five 3-pointers and hit all eight of his free throws.

"The biggest thing that was working for me is my teammates found me in the spots that I like," Franks said. "I crashed the glass hard, coach Kent has been hard on me lately in practice about crashing the glass, especially offensive boards."

Donte Clark had 22 points and 14 rebounds for Texas Southern (0-2), which lost to No. 18 Gonzaga on Friday. Demontrae Jefferson also had 22 points and six assists, and Kevin Scott added 19 points. Seven-foot-2 Trayvon Reed grabbed 15 rebounds.

Texas Southern had the lead for 35 minutes of the game. The Tigers shot 62.5 percent in the first half, including 58.3 percent from 3. However, in the second half, Texas Southern shot 37.9 percent.

"My hat's off to them, but we have a lot of work to do, and it will be nice to get Drick Bernstine and Jeff Pollard back because those are two experienced players we could have used tonight in this environment," Washington State coach Ernie Kent said.

BIG PICTURE

Washington State: This kind of come-from-behind victory should give the Cougars a lot of momentum going forward. ... Milan Acquaah, a redshirt freshman, didn't shoot well from the field, but scored 12 points with four assists and five rebounds. Acquaah was injured last season and looks to play a big role for the Cougars going forward.

Texas Southern: This was the second of 13 straight road games to open the season for the Tigers.

UP NEXT

Texas Southern plays at Ohio State on Thursday night.

Washington State hosts Seattle University on Wednesday.