Isaiah Pineiro scores 30; San Diego holds off Washington St., 82-75

LAS VEGAS – Isaiah Pineiro scored a career-high 30 points and Olin Carter III added 18 to help San Diego hold on for an 82-75 win over Washington State on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Classic.

Pineiro was 11-of-16 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range and grabbed eight rebounds. Isaiah Wright had 11 points and Tyler Williams scored 10 for San Diego (10-3). The Toreros have won five of their last six.

Ahmed Ali slipped a bounce pass to Robert Franks for a layup and, after a USD turnover, Ali drove the lane for another to pull the Cougars within one. After Pineiro missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Franks made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 74-all with 2:29 left. Pineiro answered with a dunk that sparked an 8-1 closing run as WSU missed its last four field-goal attempts.

Franks had 22 points for Washington State (7-4) and CJ Elleby added 13 with nine rebounds. Franks has 1,002 career points, becoming the 37th player in program history to top the 1,000-point plateau.

The Cougars shot 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range, but committed 16 turnovers. Ali added 12 points and six assists off the bench for WSU, while Carter Skaggs (10 points) and Marvin Cannon (10) also finished in double figures.

San Diego will play Drake in the championship game Sunday, while Washington State will play New Mexico State.

It will be the second meeting between the Cougars and Aggies. New Mexico State defeated visiting WSU 69-63 on Dec. 1 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.