Two halves could hardly have been more different. But when fit together into 40 minutes in a roaring and sold-out Beasley Coliseum, the Washington Huskies finally outlasted rival Washington State, 59-52, to sweep the series for the second straight season.
“Give Washington State a lot of credit,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “They knuckled down and fought back and got after us. The crowd was great tonight – it kind of helped them along. But give our guys a lot of credit, too. We were down one, and our guys just put the chinstraps on.”
For 20 minutes it seemed there would be no struggle at all as the Huskies dominated early, taking a 35-21 halftime lead.
However, the Cougars opened the second half with a 21-6 run and nosed in front briefly before UW shook off the roaring crown and regained control.
“Our guys really did work as hard as they could,” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “I know we as a staff are really proud of the effort they gave.”
The Cougars’ first-half troubles were exemplified by leading scorer Klay Thompson, who was shut out and missed his first eight shots. However, his first basket came about 13 minutes from the end, and it pulled the Cougars even, 39-39.
“We came out with a purpose in the second half after starting off stagnant,” Thompson said. “We just didn’t start the game with a lot of focus.”
WSU took its first lead on a James Watson free throw with about 11 minutes left, and its final lead on a DeAngelo Casto jumper about four minutes later.
Then a Scott Suggs 3-pointer put the Huskies back in front, Isaiah Thomas hit another trey and some key free throws. Suddenly, Washington was back in front – not comfortably, but for good.
“We had guys that just didn’t want to give it away,” Romar said. “Down the stretch we began to get more loose balls. We began to limit them to one shot. … I just think we put our chinstraps on and finished the task.”
Washington (19-9 overall, 9-7 Pacific-10 Conference) won with some key shooting down the stretch by Thomas, who led all scorers with 22 points.
“I’m 4-0 as a Husky playing the Washington State Cougars,” Thomas said. “So, I’m happy about that.”
Matthew Bryan-Amaning ended with 17 points – 15 in the first half — and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Washington State (16-12, 6-10) was led by DeAngelo Casto, who had 19.
Both teams’ leading scorers had off nights. Washington’s Quincy Pondexter had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, while Thompson ended with five points on 2-of-14 shooting.
Next, both teams conclude their regular seasons this week with trips to the Oregon schools. WSU visits Oregon State on Thursday, while Washington plays its final visit to Oregon’s Mac Court.
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