PULLMAN, Wash. | MJ Randolph scored a career-high 21 points as the Florida A&M University men's basketball team came up a bit short on Thursday night in an 87-73 loss to Washington State at the Beasley Coliseum.
 
Florida A&M (0-9) trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half and cut the margin to 12 before entering the half with a 41-24 deficit. Washington State (7-4) pushed the advantage to 24 points in the second half, but had to hold off a late charge by the Rattlers to earn the win
 
Randolph led the way offensively for Florida A&M with a career-high 21 points, on 7-of-12 shooting and 7-of-10 from the foul line. In addition, he recorded two steals and two rebounds. Rod Melton, Jr. added 15 points, on 7-of-13 from the floor, with one assist, while Kamron Reaves chipped in with 11 points, on 5-of-7 from the field, with two steals, two assists and one board.
 
CJ Elleby paced Washington State with a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, along with three assists and two steals. Jeff Pollard finished with 12 points, five boards, while Marvin Cannon registered 11 points, eight boards, one assist and one blocked shot. Noah Williams tallied 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.
 
How It Happened
Washington State raced out to a 9-2 lead to begin the game after a jumper by Aljaz Kunc with 16:11 left in the opening half.
 
Florida A&M cut the margin to 9-4 on its next offensive possession as Evins Desir scored on a layup, but the Cougars answered with 16-1 run, capped by CJ Elleby layup with just under 11 minutes remaining.
 
Washington State stretched the advantage to 34-13 after a Noah Williams jumper with 5:20 left, but Florida A&M used an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Kamron Reaves, to trim the margin to 36-24 with 1:21 left in the half.
 
However, the Cougars scored the final five points of the half and took a 41-24 advantage into the break.
 
Florida A&M opened the second half strong and trimmed the deficit to 46-34 after a bucket by Rod Melton, Jr., with 16:46 remaining and forced Washington State to call a timeout.
 
Washington State came out of the timeout and used an explosive 12-2 run, capped by an Elleby 3-pointer, to extend the lead to 58-36 with 13:54 left.
 
The Rattlers, who trailed 74-50 with 7:09 remaining, used a 15-2 run to close the gap to 76-65 after a pair of MJ Randolph free throws with 4:32 left.
 
However, that would be as close as Florida A&M would get as Washington State closed out the game by outscoring the Rattlers, 11-8, to earn the 87-73 victory.
 
Inside the Numbers
> Florida A&M shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor and 75.0 percent (15-of-21) from the charity stripe
> Washington State was 32-of-61 (52.5 percent) from the field and 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) from the foul line
> FAMU registered 24 rebounds, including 18 on the defensive glass
> WSU pulled down 46 rebounds, with 30 coming on the defensive end
> The Rattlers finished with 40 points in the paint, 31 points off 20 WSU turnovers, 18 bench points, 12 fastbreak points and nine second-chance points
> The Cougars recorded 42 points in the paint, 34 bench points, 25 points off 14 FAMU turnovers, 15 second-chance points and 12 fastbreak points
 
News and Notes
> Thursday's game marked the second meeting between Florida A&M and Washington State
> MJ Randolph's previous career high was 16 points earlier this season against South Dakota
> Florida A&M has faced two nationally-ranked programs so far this season – #10 Seton Hall and No. 21 Tennessee
> The game against the Cougars on Thursday marked the fourth against a Power 5 opponent as the Rattlers will also take on Power 5 opponent and Iowa State on Dec. 31
> The Rattlers are in the midst of a season-opening 13-game road swing
> FAMU's first home game comes on Jan. 11, 2020 against MEAC opponent Morgan State
> Florida A&M has travelled a total of 17,320 miles to begin the season and will add another 285 miles with the trip to Seattle, Wash. on Friday
 
Up Next
Florida A&M will conclude its three-game west coast road swing on Saturday night against Seattle. Tip-off from the Redhawk Center is set for 10:30 p.m. (eastern).
 
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