Stanford opened with an 11-2 run and then blew the game open shortly thereafter with a 16-0 flurry Thursday night in a 98-50 thrashing of Washington State in Pacific-12 Conference men’s basketball play at Stanford, Calif.

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KZ Okpala scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, during which the Cardinal (15-13, 8-8 Pac-12) ran off to a 50-13 lead and never looked back.

The margin of defeat was the largest of the season for the Cougars (11-17, 4-11), who lost 92-60 at Colorado in January.

Okpala, Bryce Wills and Josh Sharma had dunks in the 11-2 game-opening run, during which Washington State got a dunk from Davante Cooper and then missed eight straight shots, including three 3-pointers, while mixing in three turnovers.

The Cougars hung within 15-7 before Cormac Ryan contributed three 3-pointers to the 16-0 burst that opened a 31-7 margin. Okpala had seven points, including a three-point play, in the runaway.

Stanford finished the half shooting 55.9 percent from the field, going 7-for-12 on 3-pointers.

Washington State, meanwhile, missed all eight of its 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes and connected on just 22.6 percent of its shots overall en route to the 37-point deficit.

Stanford went on to lead by as many as 48 in the second half en route to its fourth win this season by 22 or more points.

Okpala hit seven of his 13 shots and found time for a team-high eight rebounds for Stanford, which won its fourth straight at home.

The Cardinal finish their Pac-12 regular season with two more home games, Sunday against Washington and next Thursday against California.

Ryan and Isaac White had 14 points apiece while Jaiden Delaire added 12 and Wills 10 for the Cardinal, who won their sixth straight over Washington State.

Ryan had four 3-pointers, White three and Okpala, Wills and Marcus Sheffield two apiece as the Cardinal outscored the Cougars 39-12 from beyond the arc.

CJ Elleby had team highs in points with 16 and rebounds with eight for Washington State, which lost 78-66 at home to Stanford in January.

Isaiah Wade shot 6-for-9 en route to 14 points, and Robert Franks added 11 for the Cougars, who got outshot 59.4 percent to 30.8.

--Field Level Media