When the Washington Huskies are at their best they send waves of guards on penetrating drives to the hoop, and rebound misses with a large and agile frontcourt. That's the way Lorenzo Romar's script was written Saturday night and that's the way his team played it out. The Huskies gained a split on their trip to the desert with a 68-59 win in Tempe over the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Washington (15-13 overall, 7-8 conference) repeatedly poked holes in ASU's defense with penetration by guards Abdul Gaddy and Andrew Andrews. When the Sun Devil defense collapsed, another Washington guard, Scott Suggs, was waiting behind the three point line to drain a bomb. If anyone in the building missed a shot, a Dawg was there to retrieve. Herb Sendek's Sun Devils were outrebounded 33-19, and Sendek's 50th birthday was unrewarded.
So efficient were the Huskies that even an off-night by leading scorer C.J. Wilcox (six points on one for 11 shooting from the field) was scarcely noticed. The Huskies compensated by holding Jahii Carson, Arizona State's leading scorer, to just 10 points. Carson scored 32 the last time these two teams met.
Arizona State (20-8, 9-6) plays their remaining three conference games on the road. They go to Los Angeles for two next weekend, before finishing at Arizona. With Saturday's loss there is zero margin for error in ASU's remaining games.
Washington's only hope for a Big Dance ticket is to win the Pac-12 tounament next month in Las Vegas. Coach Romar hopes to use the remaining conference games as a confidence springboard to a run through that tourney. Games like Saturday night's can only aid that cause.
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