SEATTLE —Aziz N’Diaye converted a three-point play off an offensive rebound with 34 seconds left, Andrew Andrews led Washington with 20 points off the bench and the Huskies held off Arizona State 96-92 on Saturday night despite 32 points from Sun Devils’ freshman Jahii Carson.
The duo of N’Diaye and Shawn Kemp Jr. dominated the interior for Washington (13-9, 5-4 Pac-12), but no rebound or basket was bigger than N’Diaye tapping Scott Suggs’ miss to keep the play alive and scoring while being fouled by Jordan Bachynski. The 45 percent free-throw shooter then converted the three-point play.
C.J. Wilcox added a pair of free throws after Carrick Felix missed a 3-pointer, but Carson hit a 3-pointer for Arizona State (17-4, 6-3) and Washington committed a turnover on the inbound with 13 seconds left. Carson drove to the rim but his shot was altered by N’Diaye and came up short.
Wilcox added two more free throws to clinch the victory that snapped Washington’s four-game losing streak.
Carson finished with the second-most points for any Arizona State freshman, but the Sun Devils allowed the most points of Herb Sendek’s coaching tenure in Tempe. Jonathan Gilling added 22 points including six 3-pointers and Felix finished with 10.
Washington had six players finish in double figures and for most of the night Wilcox, the Huskies leading scorer, was a non-factor.
Andrews provided Washington an offensive spark off the bench with his aggressiveness and Kemp was unstoppable most of the night on the block. Kemp finished with a career-high 18 points, while N’Diaye had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Scott Suggs added 14 while Wilcox and Desmond Simmons each finished with 10.
Washington went 21 of 22 at the free-throw line, countering 3 of 13 shooting from beyond the arc.
A crazy finish seemed unlikely when Washington led by 15 early in the second half and 10 with 5 minutes left only to see the Sun Devils stage a furious rally. The lead was gone in barely 2 minutes as the Sun Devils rolled off the next nine points, capped by Felix’s 3-pointer with 3:10 left that pulled Arizona State within 82-81. It was Felix’s second made basket of the half. After a pair of Wilcox free throws, Gilling scored with the shot clock about to expire. Desmond Simmons drove for a three-point play, but Carson and Gilling sandwiched 3-pointers around a jumper from Suggs to tie the game at 89 with 1 minute left.
Washington settled for a jumper from Suggs that was offline, only to have N’Diaye clean up the mess that finally gave Washington the lead for good.
Carson finished 13 of 19 from the field with most of his scoring coming on drives to the rim. His total was second only to Mario Bennett’s 35 for the most by an Arizona State freshman.
Arizona State was trying to finish the first half of conference play with seven wins for the first time since 1981, but instead had their three-game win streak snapped.
Washington led 52-44 at halftime and the 52 points were the most scored in any half this season and most allowed in the first half by Arizona State. The Sun Devils hung around by answering every run Washington and avoiding their foul situation getting any worse. Felix had three fouls by halftime and sat nearly the final 9 minutes of the half. Carson picked up his second foul with 11:14 left and became a defensive liability that Washington failed to adequately take advantage of.
Gilling hit a trio of 3s and Carson made all five shots in the first half as the Sun Devils shot 64 percent. But six turnovers and eight offensive rebounds by Washington led to the Huskies eight-point lead at the break.
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