By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – Forget the usual tripe about moral victories being as extinct as the Tyrannosaurus rex.
For a young, inexperienced University of Washington men’s basketball team, Saturday night’s 74-69 loss to No. 20 Arizona, a game literally decided in the final seconds, was one to be positive about.
“I’m upset at the loss, but I’m not upset with the effort,” said UW center David Dixon, who had his finest game of the season with 11 points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Before a screaming throng of 8,260 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, the favored Wildcats (4-2 Pacific-10 Conference play, 11-4 overall) needed a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the last five minutes by junior guard Jason Gardner, who has three NCAA Tournaments from which to draw experience. The Wildcats also got a clutch three by freshman guard Salim Stoudamire, who appears to be the latest in a long line of great Arizona guards.
“They gave us breathing room,” Arizona coach Lute Olson said of his guards.
The Huskies didn’t give the Wildcats much breathing room at all.
With 17 seconds remaining and down 72-69, Washington (1-5, 7-9) had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer. Guard Curtis Allen launched a 3-pointer that went off the rim. In the resulting scramble, the ball appeared to go out of bounds off Channing Frye, but the officials ruled a Husky touched it last.
“I was right there,” Allen said. “It went straight off (Frye’s) hand. But you can’t complain now.”
Said Husky forward Doug Wrenn: “We shouldn’t have let it come down to one call.”
With 16.3 seconds remaining, Stoudamire made two free throws for the final margin. On their final possession, the Huskies struggled to get the ball to anyone who had a good look at the basket from the perimeter, and Wrenn launched a 3-pointer that was off.
Gardner topped the Wildcats with 21 points, 16 in the second half. Forward Rick Anderson added 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
“Any win on the road is a good win in this league, the way things go,” said Olson, clearly not overjoyed with the close game.
Wrenn led all scorers with 25 points. Allen added 16. Nine of Dixon’s 11 came in the second half, which was by design.
UW coach Bob Bender had preached to his wings to keep pounding the ball inside to Dixon, even if Dixon missed easy shots early in the game. In the past, the Huskies would watch Dixon miss early, then quit feeding him the ball, even when he would be in prime scoring position.
But Saturday night, Dixon kept the Huskies in the game with power moves to the basket off Frye, a freshman center. Dixon crashed the boards for a pair of tip-ins, the last of which gave Washington a 57-55 advantage with 9:20 left in the game.
“That is the David Dixon we had early in the season,” Bender said. “We will get better as a basketball team when he plays that way night in and night out. We need that back from him.”
Washington weathered an early 15-0 Arizona blitzkrieg and a 12-point deficit late in the first half to pull to 35-32 at intermission.
“To go from 12 down to three, it was almost like it was tied as far as momentum,” Bender said. “We handled it well.”
Wrenn scored seven points, including a 3-pointer, to lead an 11-2 Husky run in the last four minutes of the half, virtually erasing a 33-21 deficit. Up to then, the Wildcats threatened to turn the game into a bad lounge act, turning Husky turnovers into layups and holding the Huskies to 5-for-19 shooting in a 10-minute stretch.
It was that kind of game. Arizona would pad a small lead, then Washington would come back. Washington found positive aspects in defeat against a team that likely moves on to yet another deep foray into the NCAA Tournament.
“The fact is, we didn’t get the win and the bigger challenge is in front of us to go down and play the Bay Area teams,” Bender said. “I feel bad for this team because we did so many good things to give us the chance to win.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
