New Orleans guard Christavious Gill scored 18 points and forward Erik Thomas had 17 and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the visiting Privateers to a 70-54 win over Washington State on Saturday.

Gill, Thomas and forward Travin Thibodeaux (16 points) combined to shoot 22 of 38 (57.9 percent) from the field. New Orleans (4-3) shot 53.7 percent overall (29 of 54), including 6 of 14 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range.

Washington State, led by reserve guard Robert Franks' 16 points, shot only 42 percent (21 of 50) from the field and 21.1 percent (4 of 19) from beyond the 3-point line.

The Cougars, who never led in the game, cut the deficit to 32-28 with 18:46 remaining in the game on a layup by forward Josh Hawkinson, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds.

Washington State (4-4) could not get closer than six points, trailing 46-40, after guard Ike Iroegbu scored in the lane with 12:29 left.

New Orleans went on 10-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Gill with 8:32 left to build the Privateers' lead to 56-43. New Orleans scored on four of five possessions in that pivotal run, which included three Washington State turnovers.

The Privateers out-rebounded the Cougars 36-20 with Thibodeaux and forward Makur Puou each contributing seven rebounds.