Scores
Thursday, January 26
Washington 60, Arizona State 54
UCLA 76, Utah 49
Arizona 85, Washington State 61
Colorado 74, USC 50
Saturday, January 28
Washington 69 Arizona 67
Arizona State 71, Washington State 67
UCLA 77, Colorado 60
USC 62 Utah 45
Sunday, January 29
Oregon State 76 Oregon 71
California 69 Stanford 59
In the Pac-12 Conference, one of the teams that was expected to make some noise this season finally came to life. The Washington Huskies had been hibernating for most of the Pac-12 campaign, but this past week, they finally delivered the goods, making use of their talent and showing the country that they can hold up under pressure.
Washington tucked away a road win on Thursday at Arizona State, but that win was significant in that it marked the avoidance of a bad loss. The Huskies’ task in Tempe was to stay focused just long enough to steer clear of an upset and swat away the presence of a horrible loss on their resume. Saturday’s road game at Arizona was a different sort of beast. Even though the hometown Wildcats are not about to make the NCAA Tournament in their own right, Arizona carries a big brand name in the world of college basketball. The U of A made the Elite Eight in last year’s Big Dance, so a Washington win at the McKale Center in Tucson would have gone a long way to improving the Huskies’ image.
Now, after a gritty two-point win in the desert, Washington stands atop the Pac-12 at 7-2. The Huskies still don’t have an eye-popping win on their slate, but this is certainly their best one of the season so far.
Washington was supposed to be really good this year. The Huskies did lose some pieces from their 2011 club, but Washington still fielded an athletic collection of tweener and hybrid-type players who run the floor extremely well and expend a lot of energy at the defensive end of the floor. With a lot of “effort guys” on the court, Washington – which severely tested North Carolina in Charlotte in the second round of the 2011 NCAAs before falling by a narrow margin – figured to make a return trip to the NCAAs, but December losses to the likes of South Dakota State put a hitch in that particular plan. A home-court loss to California in January further detracted from head coach Lorenzo Romar’s ambitions, making this game at Arizona a must-have for the program.
Now, the outlook is brighter in the gray January skies of Seattle.
Washington watched as Arizona’s Solomon Hill – he of a 28-point, 11-rebound performance – hit a tying triple with 6.9 seconds left, but Washington’s C.J. Wilcox earned and made two foul shots just moments later to give his team the lead. Arizona had a final chance to send the game into overtime, as Josiah Turner made a strong move to the basket, but Washington’s Tony Wroten provided terrific help defense and wiped the ball off the window before it hit the backboard. The Huskies gleefully flew off the court, because they know that if they can produce a huge February and go 15-3 in the conference, they just might be able to become that one at-large team the Pac-12 is hoping for when Selection Sunday rolls around.
Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer