Baynes, No. 10 Cougars win opener

Aron Baynes scored 15 points and No. 10 Washington State beat Eastern Washington 68-41 on Friday night in the season opener before a sellout crowd of almost 12,000 that reflected the new buzz around a once-moribund program.

Washington State, which a few years ago was averaging less than 3,000 fans per game, opened a season ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in its history, after going 26-8 last season.

Short-handed Eastern Washington, with a new coach and mostly new players, didn't put up much of a fight.

Washington State led 31-19 at halftime, then outscored the Eagles 14-2 in the first 6 minutes of the second half for a commanding 45-21 lead. Baynes had 10 points in that stretch.

Derrick Low added 14 points for the Cougars (1-0) and Robbie Cowgill had 13.

Milan Stanojevic led Eastern Washington (0-1) with 11 points.

Washington State took a 15-5 lead. Two 3-pointers brought Eastern Washington within 18-11, but a 9-0 run by Washington State, including five points by Low, gave the Cougars a 26-11 lead.

Eastern made just six of 20 shots in the first half, four from 3-point range, and committed nine turnovers.

It is the first time the schools, which are only 70 miles apart, have played since 1998.

Eastern, with half its players from Washington, is 11-51 against Washington State, which has only one player from the state on its roster.