Bamba scores 22, Washington St. tops Northern Kentucky 68-47

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — TJ Bamba scored 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Mouhamed Gueye added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Washington State beat Northern Kentucky 68-47 Wednesday night.

Justin Powell scored 11 points for Washington State (4-4).

Trevon Faulkner scored in the lane to give Northern Kentucky (5-5) its first lead at 8-7 but DJ Rodman answered with 25 seconds later that sparked a 10-2 run — including two 3-pointers by Powell — that gave the Cougars the lead for good. Bamba made a runner in the lane, threw down a dunk and added a fast-break layup to give Washington State a 32-17 lead with 4:41 left in the first half and the Cougars led by double figures the rest of the way.

Faukner led the Norse with 11 points. Marques Warrick added 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

Bamba helped the Washington State defense keep Warrick, who went into the game averaging 21.6 points per game, in check. The junior, who scored 45 points against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 27, made his first field goal to make it 57-34 with 6:20 to play.

Washington State shot 63% (15 of 24) from the field, made 5 of 9 from 3-point range and hit 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the first half and led 39-23 at intermission.

Northern Kentucky returns home to play Eastern Kentucky next Wednesday. Washington State plays UNLV on Saturday at the Las Vegas Clash.

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