After an offseason of scrimmages and drills, the Washington State University men’s basketball team played its first game of the season in front of an audience Friday night in Beasley Coliseum.     

WSU defeated the Central Washington Vikings 93-56 in front of a small crowd. Redshirt senior forward D.J. Shelton lead the team in scoring with 17 points and had eight total rebounds. The Cougars out-rebounded the Vikings by 31, which helped set the team up for success. Sophomore forward Junior Longrus was another key player on the boards and finished with a double-double.

“I think everyone came in and rebounded and did what they had to do, stuck to their assignment,” Shelton said in a press conference after the game.

Starting off the game, rustiness seemed to be a factor for the WSU men’s basketball team. However, WSU junior guard DaVonte Lacy got the Cougar offense going by nailing three three-pointers in the first half.

“I think we played not to the best of our ability,” Lacy said. “We started playing the score after we got up, I think we turned it back up later in the second half. Overall it was good, everyone’s healthy, and we’re gonna get back at it tomorrow.”

The junior finished the night with 12 points and was three of eight from behind the arc.

“We weren’t worried about the score, we never talked about the score, we just talked about ‘let’s be the best that we can be, regardless of the score’,” WSU men’s basketball Head Coach Ken Bone said. “Whether we won by one or by whatever we won by, it was all about us trying to take each possession and get better.”

Friday was the first taste of collegiate basketball for redshirt freshman guard Que Johnson, freshman guard Ike Iroegbu, and freshman forward Josh Hawkinson.

“I could say I was just a little bit nervous at the beginning,” Iroegbu said. “But after the first time we went up and down, I think I was fine after that.”

The freshman point guard looked to have control of the offense and tempo throughout the game. Iroegbu finished the night with six points and three assists coming off the bench.

Many eyes were on Johnson after sitting out last season. Johnson, who was still battling back from a stress fracture, struggled at times throughout the night. He had a few bright spots in the game, including making a buzzer beater layup to end the first half and hitting a three-pointer at the end of the game. Johnson scored seven points.

“I was a little bit nervous, but after the game I was pretty good, ready for the next one,” Johnson said.

The surprise of the night was Hawkinson’s performance. He came off the bench toward the end of the game and scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds, three assists and one block in the 10 minutes that he played.

“Josh Hawkinson I thought played really good for the amount of minutes he played,” Bone said.

The WSU men’s basketball team will play its first regular season game Friday against California State University, Bakersfield.