PULLMAN, Wash. — After Sacramento State had taken its largest lead of the second half at 60-58 with 3:28 remaining, Washington State closed the final 3:02 on a 16-6 run to defeat the Hornets, 74-66, on Wednesday evening at the Beasley Coliseum.

After an Eric Stuteville free throw capped a 20-6 run to give the Hornets that 60-58 lead, it was all Washington State from there. The Cougars would score on each of their final eight possessions, converting on their final three field goal attempts while also going 10-for-11 from the free throw line during that stretch. Conversely, over the final three minutes, the Hornets shot 1-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. That included a puzzling lane violation call with Jiday Ugbaja at the line and 34 seconds remaining which wiped out a made free throw.

The Hornets, who trailed Washington State by 14 points early in the second half (47-33, 15:37 left), shot .483 (14-29) and buried 12-of-14 free throws after halftime. In fact, after trailing at the break, 35-25, Sacramento State outscored Washington State in the second half by a 41-39 margin.

The game marked the final non-conference tuneup for both teams, and the Cougars spoiled the Hornets' bid for a fourth win over a Pac-12 Conference team in seven years. Sacramento State posted recent wins over Oregon State (2009), Utah (2012) and Arizona State (2015).

An ongoing problem for the Hornets this season has been the team's inability to close halves. That came into play again tonight as huge runs by the opposition late in either the first or second period have been huge factors in Hornets losses against UC Davis, Denver, Pacific, South Dakota, and now Washington State.

The Hornets remain winless away from home this season while falling to 3-8. Sacramento State is 0-5 on the road, 0-3 on neutral floors and 3-0 at home. Washington State improved to 7-5 overall and 6-3 at home. The Cougars have now defeated the Hornets on nine straight occasions (each of those wins in Pullman) since Sacramento State's lone win in the series on Dec. 17, 1953 at home. Overall, Washington State is 9-1 all-time against the Hornets.

Sacramento State led for 5:42 of game clock, which included taking its largest lead of the contest at 11-5 with 16:09 left in the first half. However, Washington State responded with a 14-0 run to take an eight-point lead (19-11) at the 9:30 mark. The Cougars would push that advantage to 10 points at halftime, and stretch it to a game-high 14 points with 15:37 left in the second.

Sacramento State finished the game shooting .426 (23-54) from the field and .850 (17-20) from the free throw line, but struggled from the 3-point line, knocking down just 3-for-18 from distance. That included a 1-for-10 performance from the 3-point line in the second half. Hornet leading scorer Justin Strings, who entered the game averaging 14.7 ppg, finished with just seven points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field and 0-for-7 from long range.

Both teams combined for just 17 turnovers (SAC 9, WSU 8), but the Cougars owned a 38-30 edge in the rebounding department and outscored the Hornets by a 9-3 margin in second chance points. Washington State finished the game shooting .448 (26-58) from the field, .292 (7-24) from the 3-point line and .882 (15-17) from the free throw line. The Cougars limited the Hornets to just four offensive rebounds all evening.

Sacramento State was led by junior guard Marcus Graves' game high and season-high tying 21 points on 8-of-14 from the field, 1-for-1 from distance and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He also had three rebounds and a pair of assists in 32 minutes. Graves was joined in double figures by guard Jiday Ugbaja, who poured in 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the line in 17 minutes. Ugbaja has now scored 27 points in his last 44 minutes played spanning three games.

Center Eric Stuteville scored in double figures for the fifth straight game before fouling out with 2:11 remaining. The fourth-year senior had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Since switching the mechanics of his free throw shooting, Stuteville is 14-of-22 from the line after beginning the season 8-for-26 from the stripe. Forward Nick Hornsby had eight points, six rebounds and a steal, and true freshman Chibueze Jacobs had a season-high seven points to go along with five rebounds and a made 3-pointer in 12 active minutes. Ugbaja (12) and Jacobs (7) combined to score all 19 Hornet points off the bench.

Four Washington State players scored in double figures, comprised of Charles Callison (16), Ike Iroegbu (15), Conor Clifford (13) and Malachi Flynn (11). During that game-ending 16-6 run, five different Cougar players scored, including five points from Robert Franks and six from Josh Hawkinson.

Sacramento State will finally open Big Sky Conference play next week with a pair of home games against Northern Colorado on Thursday and North Dakota on Saturday. Thursday's game will tip at 7 p.m. and Saturday's game is a New Year's Eve matinee, beginning at noon.