Derrien King scored a career-best 22 points and Washington State never trailed in a 69-65 nonconference victory over Montana State on Friday night in the regular-season opener for both teams in Pullman, Wash.

Josh Hawkinson contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds for his 41st career double-double for the Cougars (1-0). Malachi Flynn added 10 points and nine rebounds to help Washington State snap a 17-game losing streak dating to January.

Tyler Hall scored 32 points and made 7 of 15 3-point attempts for the Bobcats (0-1). Sarp Gobeloglu added 14 points before fouling out for Montana State, which shot just 29.3 percent from the field.

Washington State led comfortably for most of the game but was challenged late before defeating the Bobcats for the ninth straight time.

A led that topped out at 19 points was just three after Montana State Quinton Everett nailed a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. A free throw by King made it a two-possession game with 13 seconds to go as Washington State held on.

The Cougars led by 10 points at halftime before Conor Clifford scored two baskets during a 6-0 start to the second half to increase the margin to 37-21.

Hall connected on a 3-pointer to pull the Bobcats within 39-29 with 15:47 left in the game. Washington State answered with the next nine points, capped by King's 3-pointer to make it 48-29 with 12:53 left.

The Cougars led 58-44 after two free throws by Hawkinson with 5:45 remaining before Montana State scored the next nine to make it a five-point margin on Hall's layup with 4:06 to play.

Early on, the game belonged to Washington State as it scored the first 11 points while the Bobcats missed their first 10 shots from the field. A 3-pointer by Gobeloglu with 14:19 left in the half accounted for Montana State's first points.

The Cougars led 19-8 after a layup by Ike Iroegbu with 11:10 remaining before Hall drained three 3-pointers during an 11-2 spurt that saw the Bobcats pull within 21-19 with 5:01 left.

Washington State answered with six straight points en route to a 31-21 lead at the break.