The Cougars marched into enemy territory Saturday afternoon and left Seattle victorious after a nail-biting, blood-pressure-raising finish.

Washington State (8-7, 2-1 in Pac-12) defeated Washington (11-4, 0-3) in Seattle for the first time since 2011. The Cougars took the 80-77 victory in a game that went down to the wire. The Huskies led for most of the first half with sophomore guard Nigel Williams-Goss leading the way. However, the Cougars finished the half strong and went into halftime tied up at 37.

WSU took the lead with 17:24 left in the second half after sophomore guard Que Johnson collected his own miss and scored a lay-up putting WSU up 47-45. Washington was able to hang in until the 4:31 mark when guard Andrew Andrews put the Huskies back on top with a made free throw. The free throw marked a 7-0 run for the Huskies.

However, WSU regained the lead as Johnson hit two free throws with 4:01 to play giving WSU a 69-68 lead. The free throws vaulted the Cougars into a 7-2 run of their own. The Cougars survived a late Husky rally after a last second, game-tying three-point attempt was no good.

Senior guard DaVonté Lacy led the Cougars with 25 points, while adding four rebounds and an assist. Sophomore guard Ike Iroegbu put together another complete game, securing five rebounds, dishing out five assists and scoring 13 points. Johnson added 15 points for the Cougars on 5-of-9 shooting. Junior forward Brett Boese had 11 points, shooting 3-of-5 from three-point range. Sophomore forward Josh Hawkinson led the Cougars with ten rebounds.

As a team, the Cougars shot 46 percent from the field while also hitting 9-of-23 three-pointers. The biggest key for WSU down the stretch was their free throw shooting as they made their final 14 free throw attempts, all with less than ten minutes to play in the second half. Lacy secured the game, hitting the final six free throws of the contest while Washington was attempting to mount their comeback.

Washington was led by Williams-Goss, who scored a season-high 30 points. Andrews and forward Shawn Kemp Jr. (son of former Seattle Super Sonics legend Shawn Kemp) added 12 points of their own to aid the Huskies.

Washington has now lost four consecutive games, including its first three Pac-12 conference games, after starting the year 11-0.

The Cougars moved past .500 for the first time this season and have won four out of their last five contests. WSU is 2-1 in Pac-12 play to start the year after splitting games against Stanford and California last weekend.

WSU will return home this Thursday looking to carry their momentum against a talented Oregon Ducks team. That game will mark the first time Head Coach Ernie Kent will have the opportunity to play against his former school. The game can be seen at 8 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.

Reporting by William Cheshier