Pac 10 Fans Home
Pac 10 Football
Pac 10 Basketball
Pac 10 Baseball
College Fansites
Pac 10 Apparel
Pac 10 Tickets

Arizona vs Washington Basketball Recap

Despite a cold shooting night by their senior leader and an early foul-out by their freshman phenom, the Arizona Wildcats hung tough for 40 minutes Thursday in a daunting road environment against the defending conference champions.

The Wildcats’ determined effort wasn’t enough, however, as the host Washington Huskies held on for an 81-75 victory which further shook up the topsy-turvy Pac-10 standings.

“Washington has a style that, to me, really favors them at home,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said following the matchup at UW’s Bank of America Arena. “They crash the offensive glass, they use their defense to create turnovers, and they just really attack the paint. They’re constantly putting pressure on the defense.”

With the loss, Arizona (12-10 overall, 6-4 Pac-10) went from a two-way tie with California for first place in the conference to a four-way deadlock for the top spot with the Golden Bears, Arizona State and UCLA. California lost to USC 66-63 on Thursday night, while the ASU Sun Devils defeated Washington State 81-70 and UCLA beat Stanford 77-73.

Senior forward Quincy Pondexter led Washington (15-7, 5-5) with 30 points and 12 rebounds against the Wildcats. Meanwhile, the Huskies held Arizona senior point guard Nic Wise to 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting.

“Our guys I thought did a very, very good job trying to contain him," Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar said about his team’s defense against Arizona’s Wise, who was held scoreless in the first half. “He didn’t really get loose for a couple baskets until the end.”

Arizona freshman forward/center Derrick Williams, who entered the game averaging 15.9 points and 7.3 rebounds, fouled out after just eight minutes of playing time.

Williams, who finished with three points and two rebounds, went to the bench with his third foul with 6:56 left in the first half. He was whistled for his fourth personal just 18 seconds into the second half, and he picked up his fifth with 9:36 remaining on an offensive foul away from the ball.

Washington led 61-52 with 8:53 left after Pondexter scored eight consecutive points on a putback, a fast-break slam, two free throws and a tip-in.

> Browse the selection of Pac 10 apparel & merchandise online as well as Pac 10 tickets through Pac 10 Fans and partner sites.

The Wildcats battled back, drawing to within 71-68 on a three-pointer by Wise with 1:57 left.

Arizona reduced its deficit to two points on three subsequent occasions, the last of which occurred with 9.7 seconds remaining when sophomore guard Kyle Fogg drove to the basket and made his ensuing free throw to complete a three-point play to make it 77-75.

Washington, which went 10 of 10 at the foul line in the final minute, clinched the victory by making four free throws (two by junior guard Venoy Overton and two by Pondexter) in the last 9.1 seconds.

Freshman guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones led Arizona with 14 points, while Fogg finished with 13. Freshman wing Solomon Hill added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats. Sophomore guard Brendon Lavender made all four of his field-goal attempts (including three from three-point range) and finished with 11 points.

Washington made 29 of 42 free-throw attempts. Overton went 9-of-10 at the foul line for the Huskies and finished with 12 points, while Pondexter converted 10 of 15 free throws to go with his 10-of-17 field-goal shooting.

By Tom Kessler
DFN Sports Staff Writer