SEATTLE – Ten minutes into what was supposed to be a Sunday afternoon stroll through the Sacramento State Hornets, the Washington Huskies had fallen behind by 13 points.
Sacramento State, which has never beaten a ranked opponent, had harassed the 17th-ranked Huskies into a series of whiffs on both ends of the court – missed rebounds, bad passes and poor outside shooting.
Then the Huskies woke up.
They found their rhythm in all phases of their game and put together a 12-minute stretch of near-flawless basketball that led to an 83-74 victory at Bank of America Arena.
Coach Lorenzo Romar called it an ugly victory, which was somewhat nicer than the words he shared with the 4-0 Huskies at halftime.
“Coach told us, if we were at Oregon for this game, we’d be down 30 at the half,” said sophomore forward Jon Brockman. “If we were at Arizona, we’d be down 40. We’ve got to come out and play better basketball.”
That didn’t happen until 10 minutes had elapsed in the first half, after Sacramento State used its quickness to build a 29-16 lead. Washington then stepped up its intensity on defense, leading to rebounds and fast breaks, and outscored the Hornets 32-9 by halftime.
“When we made that run to come back was when we stepped up our defense,” Brockman said. “We know that’s what starts our offense and gets us out on the break. It gets the team into it and gets the crowd into it. We have to show up the first second of the game and be in a defensive mode. We can’t wait 10 minutes.”
Freshman Quincy Pondexter scored eight of his game-high 22 points during Washington’s 15-0 run, including two baskets from 3-point range after the Huskies had missed their first four shots from behind the arc.
Brockman, who finished with 13 points, tied the score 35-35 with a double-pump that drew a Sacramento State defender off the floor. Brockman ducked his head and let the defender soar over him, then laid the ball in the basket.
That was far from Brockman’s most impressive move of the game.
The Huskies, who led 48-38 at the half, continued their romp early in the second half when Brockman grabbed a rebound at the far end of the floor. He took a few easy dribbles and looked for a teammate, then, from well behind halfcourt saw a lane open to the basket. He charged full-speed down the court and slammed the ball through for a 54-38 UW lead.
“I just saw the open court so I started pushing it, and there was a huge lane,” he said. “I felt like a running back going through the offensive line.”
Spencer Hawes, UW’s 7-foot freshman center, made all seven of his shots from the floor and finished with 14 points in 23 minutes.
That was the end of the good numbers for the Huskies, who continued their early season pattern of turnovers. They committed 24 Sunday and are averaging 22 after four games.
“Familiarity could have something to do with it,” said Romar, whose roster includes six players who weren’t with the team last year. “What we are doing offensively and having a comfort level for what we are doing, I think that will help. We’re not as cohesive as we need to be or as cohesive as we will be.”
UW led by 16 midway through the second half before Sacramento State rallied late to cut the margin to nine by the final horn.
That horn sounded with 3:59 remaining in the game because of a malfunction and arena officials couldn’t get it to stop. Romar and Sacramento State coach Jerome Jenkins agreed to play the remainder of the game with the horn blaring rather than endure a long – and loud – delay.
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