The WSU men’s basketball team held off the visiting Montana State Bobcats 69-65 for a season-opening win on Friday.

The Cougars (1-0, 0-0) dominated the defensive end of the floor in the first half, holding MSU to barely over 22 percent shooting from the floor and about 23 percent from deep.

“I was really pleased with how hard we played, particularly defensively,” Head Coach Ernie Kent said.

Kent also said that the team will continue to implement a mix of defensive strategies to keep opponents off-balance as the season progresses.

Despite containing the Bobcats’ offense in the first half, the Cougars led by 10 points at halftime due to their own offensive struggles. The offense ran the floor well and put itself in good situations, but failed to execute at the rim at times.

WSU was led offensively by junior forward Derrien King, who racked up 22 points and two assists on 50 percent shooting from the floor. Fourteen of King’s 22 points came in the first half, accounting for nearly half of the team’s point total in the first 20 minutes of play.

“(Kent) told us we need to get out running, attack, play our game and start it off early,” King said, “so that’s what I tried to do.”

Senior forward Josh Hawkinson also made an impact in the game, tallying a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Hawkinson ranks third in school history with 41 double-doubles in his career, 20 of those coming in the team’s 29 games last season.

After the WSU defense forced the Bobcats into taking bad shots in the first half, MSU got its offense rolling in the second frame. MSU Sophomore guard Tyler Hall exploded for 20 points on six of 13 shooting in the second half and nearly engineered a comeback by MSU.

Hall also tallied four assists, five rebounds and a block in the half. He was responsible for nearly half of the Bobcats’ points in the final 20 minutes.

“(Montana State was]) making some tough shots, but I just tried to tell the team to stay poised,” WSU freshman guard Malachi Flynn said. “Coach Kent talks about that a lot.”

WSU held off the Bobcats’ second-half surge at the end of the game by sinking its free throws and getting MSU starters into foul trouble in the final minutes. WSU shot 16-22 (72.7 percent) from the stripe in the second half. The Cougars committed 17 turnovers in the game and was outscored by the Bobcats in bench points 18 to five.

The Cougars travel to Kennewick on Tuesday for a neutral site game against Central Washington University that will air on Pac-12 Network. WSU returns to Beasley Coliseum on Nov. 27 for a 3 p.m. game against San Jose State University.