SEATTLE – A lot was at stake for Mike Jensen and he knew it.
Washington was down five points to UC Riverside when Jensen made the steal and attacked the basket. His team needed the points, but Jensen wanted what he calls “My Dunk,” a reverse, overhead slam.
“If I missed, I probably would have been handing out socks the rest of the year,” the 6-foot-8 Husky forward.
He didn’t miss. In fact, Jensen’s slam was the beginning of a 32-6 UW run over the Highlanders, which broke open a formerly interesting game into a 91-78 Washington victory Monday night at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Wanting to change the tempo of the game early in the second half, UW coach Lorenzo Romar decided to slap on a full-court press. Jensen was the first beneficiary of that with his steal and slam.
“The fellas kind of like that stuff,” Romar said of the dunk.
And the coach?
“He’d better make it,” the coach said.
Washington (2-0) made its big move after guard Kevin Butler nailed a baseline jumper to give UC Riverside a 48-43 lead with 16:42 left, which gave the 4,993 fans in attendance a reason to squirm.
On came the fullcourt press and down went the Highlanders (0-2).
It was 10 minutes of the best basketball the Huskies have shown in the young season. Washington forced eight turnovers and UC Riverside shot just 3-for-10 in that span. It was 75-54 10 minutes later.
Suddenly, the Huskies played with more energy, sharpness and intensity. The Highlanders managed just eight second-half rebounds and committed 10 turnovers after intermission. The Huskies out-rebounded the Highlanders, 44-22.
“The press just made the tempo much faster,” said forward Bobby Jones, who finished with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, four rebounds and a pair of steals in 15 frenetic minutes. “I tried to do it in the first half, but really didn’t get a chance. In the second half, I was basically a fresh player. Coach realized that and we went with the press.”
UW guard Brandon Roy scored a career-high 22 points and collected six rebounds, five on the offensive end. He also dished out five assists. Forward Hakeem Rollins added 12 points, seven rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal. Guard Curtis Allen scored 11 points and buried three 3-pointers.
Virtually every Husky contributed in the decisive run. Roy had seven points, Jones six and Rollins four.
The Huskies took a 40-36 lead at the half, despite themselves. Sloppy ballhandling (Washington had 11 turnovers to the Highlanders’ three) kept UCR in the game. Kevin Butler, an elegant 6-3 guard lit the Huskies up for 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. He finished with 20.
The UW locker room was lively at the half. Jones said Romar challenged the team’s manhood and effort. The team responded once the press was on.
“We weren’t getting in the lanes like we like we be, defensively, whether that was a lack of energy or urgency,” Romar said. “When we pressed and then went back into our halfcourt man-to-man defense, the pressure remained. Sometimes, you use the press just to revive you.”
It revived the Huskies. It deflated the Highlanders.
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