Cougars Blast Toreros Behind Thompson's 43-Point Effort - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site

Cougars Blast Toreros Behind Thompson's 43-Point Effort

The sophomore finished 16-of-24 from the field in the 93-56 victory.

DeAngelo Casto (23) puts up a shot over the defense of San Diego's Roberto Mafra.

Nov. 28, 2009

Final Stats | Notes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Washington State's Klay Thompson scored 43 points to break the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout single-game scoring record Saturday, leading his Cougars to a 93-56 romp over San Diego in the championship game at Sullivan Arena.

Washington State (6-0) also got 16 points and five assists from guard Reggie Moore as it registered the most lopsided title-game victory in the tournament's 33-year history.

San Diego (4-2) was led by 13 points from all-tourney selection Brandon Johnson, but the Toreros went cold offensively in the second half and could find no answer for Thompson on the defensive end.

Thompson, a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard, shot 16-for-24 from the floor, 8-of-13 from the three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. His trey with 2:58 left in the game broke the mark of Purdue's Glenn Robinson, who had 41 points against Portland in the 1993 title game.

Thompson's eight 3-pointers also tied the record of St. Mary's Eric Schraeder, who set that mark in a first-round, overtime loss to Iowa State in 1998.

For the tournament, Thompson wound up with 89 points, tying the Southwestern Louisiana's Casey Green (1997) for the second-most in Shootout history. Robinson still holds the record with 97 points in 1993.

The Cougars' shooting star had a mere 12 points at halftime as his team sprinted to a 12-3 lead and never trailed. WSU led 39-32 at the break and saw its lead trimmed to 45-43 on Clinton Houston's jumper at the 16:15 mark.

After a Marcus Capers dunk stretched the advantage back to four, Thompson took over, scoring the next 11 Cougar points as the lead stretched back to 57-45. Starting with a three-pointer at the 15:13 mark, the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native poured in his final 27 points in a span of 12 minutes, 15 seconds, to seal the tourney's Most Outstanding Player award.

Moore, who shot 5-of-6 overall (2-3 3-point field goals) and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe, joined Thompson and teammate DeAngelo Casto (eight points, five rebounds, three blocks) on the all-tournament team.

In addition to Johnson, the Toreros landed guard De'Jon Jackson (9 pts, 3 rebounds) and forward Chris Lewis (double-doubles in USD's two victories) as all-tourney picks.

Washington State becomes the fifth Pacific-10 Conference school to claim a Shootout title, joining California (2006), Washington (2004), UCLA (1990) and Arizona (1987).

USD's loss drops the West Coast Conference to 0-4 in Shootout title games, joining Loyola Marymount (2006), Gonzaga (2001) and Portland (1993) as runners-up.

2009 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
All-Tournament Team
Malcolm Campbell - Alaska Anchorage
DeAngelo Casto - Washington State
Aubrey Coleman - Houston
Brandon Johnson - San Diego
Chris Lewis - San Diego
Kelvin Lewis - Houston
De'Jon Jackson - San Diego
Reggie Moore - Washington State
Brandon Walker - Alaska Anchorage
Tiny Gallon - Oklahoma
Most Outstanding Player: Klay Thompson, Washington State

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