Freshman Myles Rice had career highs of six 3-pointers and 28 points and Washington State pulled away inside the final nine minutes to beat Eastern Washington 82-72.
Steele Venters scored 27 points and buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to rally Eastern Washington to an 81-74 victory over Washington State in the first round of the NIT.
Maisie Burnham and Alex Fowler combined for 34 points as Portland beat two-time defending West Coast Conference Tournament champion Gonzaga 64-60 to claim an NCAA Tournament berth.
Washington State has hired Jeff Schmedding as the Cougars’ new defensive coordinator. Schmedding spent the past two seasons at Auburn and was the Tigers' defensive coordinator for the past season.