HONOLULU — Paul Jesperson scored 18 points, Wes Washpun had 16 and Jeremy Morgan added 14 to help Northern Iowa beat the Washington State men’s basketball team 63-59 in a consolation semifinal of the Diamond Head Classic late Wednesday night.
Josh Hawkinson scored 14 points, Ike Iroegbu 12 and Derrien King 10 for Washington State (7-4), which was just 4 of 5 from the free-throw line.
There were 10 ties and 19 lead changes.
The Panthers (8-4) avoided their first back-to-back losses of the season despite being out-rebounded 31-20.
The Cougars open Pac-12 play against USC on Jan.