ESPN Men's Basketball

PULLMAN, Wash. -- C.J. Wilcox scored 18 points and Washington beat poor-shooting Washington State 68-63 on Saturday night.

Scott Suggs scored three late baskets to help Washington (9-5, 1-0 Pac-12) successfully begin its defense of last year's Pac-12 regular season title.

Mike Ladd scored 15 points to lead Washington State (9-5, 0-1), which has lost four straight to its cross-state rival.

The Huskies jumped to a big early lead and poor shooting plagued Washington State much of the game.

Washington State was scoreless in the first five minutes of the game to fall behind 9-0. Consecutive 3-pointers by Suggs and Wilcox pushed Washington's lead to 17-4 and the Cougars had trouble even attempting shots on several of their possessions.

Shawn Kemp Jr. made back-to-back dunks as Washington built a 21-4 lead and the Cougars were just 2 of 13 from the field at that point.