Issac Bonton scored 15 points but endured a rough shooting performance as Washington State rallied and held on for a victory over Oregon State in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams.
The 300th all-time meeting between the teams picked for 11th and 12th respectively was a defensive struggle, but the Cougars (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12) did enough in the final 10 minutes.
Bonton never got into a consistent rhythm as he shot 4-of-18 from the field, but he hit 5 of 7 free throws, handed out seven assists, grabbed four rebounds and made three steals.
DJ Rodman -- the son of former Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls player Dennis Rodman -- added a career-best 13 points as Washington State won despite not hitting a field goal in the final 5:47 and shot 32.8 percent overall.
Noah Williams and Aljaz Kunc added 12 points apiece for Washington State, which rallied from a pair of 10-point deficits in the second half.
Zach Reichle led Oregon State (2-1, 0-1) with 12 points, and Warith Alatishe added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Leading scorer Ethan Thompson was held to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting as the Beavers shot 35.6 percent and committed 17 turnovers.
Washington State came up with a timely defensive play with 22 seconds left when when Kunc stole the ball from Maurice Calloo, who fouled Kunc in the aftermath.
Kunc hit both free throws for a 58-55 lead and, after Reichle missed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, Bonton secured the win with a free throw with six seconds left.
The Cougars appeared to begin seizing control with 5:47 remaining when Rodman's 3-pointer from the top of the key capped an 11-0 run and made it 53-46 left.
However, the Beavers pulled to within 56-54 on a 3-pointer by Reichle with 1:44 left.
The Beavers shot 36.7 percent and committed 10 turnovers but held a 26-23 lead at halftime thanks to a difficult zone defense that forced the Cougars to miss 12 of their final 13 shots.
--Field Level Media
