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ANCHORAGE – Washington State’s Klay Thompson scored 43 points to break the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout single-game scoring record Saturday, leading his Cougars to a 93-56 romp over San Diego in the championship game at Sullivan Arena.
Washington State (6-0) also got 16 points and five assists from guard Reggie Moore as it registered the most lopsided title-game victory in the tournament’s 33-year history.
San Diego (4-2) was led by 13 points from all-tourney selection Brandon Johnson, but the Toreros went cold offensively in the second half and could find no answer for Thompson on the defensive end.
Thompson, a 6-6 sophomore guard, shot 16 of 24 from the floor, 8 of 13 from the three-point range and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. His trey with 2:58 left in the game broke the mark of Purdue’s Glenn Robinson, who had 41 points against Portland in the 1993 title game.
Thompson’s eight three-pointers also tied the record of St. Mary’s Eric Schraeder, who set that mark in a first-round, overtime loss to Iowa State in 1998.
For the tournament, Thompson wound up with 89 points, tying the Southwestern Louisiana’s Casey Green (1997) for the second-most in Shootout history. Robinson still holds the record with 97 points in 1993.
The Cougars’ shooting star had a mere 12 points at halftime as his team sprinted to a 12-3 lead and never trailed. WSU led 39-32 at the break and saw its lead trimmed to 45-43 on Clinton Houston’s jumper at the 16:15 mark.
After a Marcus Capers dunk stretched the advantage back to four, Thompson took over, scoring the next 11 Cougar points as the lead stretched back to 57-45. Starting with a three-pointer at the 15:13 mark, the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native poured in his final 27 points in a span of 12 minutes, 15 seconds, to seal the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player award.
Moore, who shot 5 of 6 overall (2-3 3FG) and 4 of 4 at the charity stripe, joined Thompson and teammate DeAngelo Casto (8 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) on the all-tournament team.
In addition to Johnson, the Toreros landed guard De’Jon Jackson (9 pts, 3 rebounds) and forward Chris Lewis (double-doubles in USD’s two victories) as all-tourney picks.
Washington State becomes the fifth Pacific-10 Conference school to claim a Shootout title, joining California (2006), Washington (2004), UCLA (1990) and Arizona (1987).
USD’s loss drops the West Coast Conference to 0-4 in Shootout title games, joining Loyola Marymount (2006), Gonzaga (2001) and Portland (1993) as runners-up.
2009 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
All-Tournament Team
Malcolm Campbell – Alaska Anchorage
DeAngelo Casto – Washington State
Aubrey Coleman – Houston
Brandon Johnson – San Diego
Chris Lewis – San Diego
Kelvin Lewis – Houston
De’Jon Jackson – San Diego
Reggie Moore – Washington State
Brandon Walker – Alaska Anchorage
Tiny Gallon – Oklahoma
Most Outstanding Player: Klay Thompson, Washington State
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