Per The University of Washington Press Release…..
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Noah Dickerson tipped in a missed layup from Jaylen Nowell with 25 seconds remaining and Washington defeated rival Washington State 72-70 on Saturday night.
Dickerson scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Washington (20-5, 11-1 Pac-12). Nowell added 20 points.
Marvin Cannon scored 25 points with eight rebounds for Washington State (10-15, 3-9). Robert Franks added 16 points.
Washington came out of the second half with a 7-0 run over 1:57 sparked by a jumper from Nowell. Dickerson added a layup and Hameir Wright knocked down a 3 completing the run and forcing the Cougars to call a time out.
“We came out really angry! We didn’t like the fact that they did that so we just make it a point that we come out and made sure that we shut all of that down.” Nowell said.
Washington would go on a 13-3 run spanning five minutes after several layups from Dickerson and a 3-pointer from Dominic Green to tie the game at 54 with 9:57 remaining.
“We just had to calm down a little bit,” Washington head coach Mike Hopkins said. “In the first half our energy levels just didn’t seem like they were there. We got down. They were shooting the ball well. In the second half we did a really good job of keeping them out of the high post while guarding Franks. That really helped. They scored 45 points in the first half and 25 in the second half.”
Franks knocked down a 3-pointer for WSU to take a 67-65 lead with 2:46 remaining.
Dickerson was fouled on the next possession making 1 of 2 free throws to cut the deficit to one. David Crisp then stole the ball, setting up the fast break and a 3-point play for Nowell that gave the Huskies the lead for good at 69-67.
The Huskies trailed most of the first half as WSU had all of the momentum in the early going.
“They were pretty much on their high horse when they were beating us, but we knew we were going to make a little run and get it together eventually.” Nowell said after the game.
Washington answered an 8-0 Cougar run at the 9:57 mark in the first half after Matisse Thybulle threw down two dunks underneath the rim and Nowell hit a 3-point jumper completing the 7-0 run for the Huskies over 1:53.
WSU fought back with a 10-0 run sealing momentum for the half. CJ Elleby started the run with a tough back door pass to Jeff Pollard for the layup and Pollard returned the favor on the next possession hitting Elleby for a fast-break layup and foul.
Elleby completed the 3-point play and Cannon was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the next possession knocking down all three free throws. Ahmed Ali finished the run with two made free throws.
BIG PICTURE
Washington: The Huskies handled business as expected, bouncing back after falling to Arizona State, their first Pac-12 loss of the season. The win against the Cougars comes at an important time since the Huskies are battling for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament.
“There’s nothing that we’re going to put in that’s different. Everybody knows we’re playing zone. The bottom line is we got to be able to have our energy. We got to be together. And that’s going to be a huge part of being successful, especially down the stretch.” Hopkins said after the game.
UP NEXT
Washington: The Huskies will travel home to play Utah on Wednesday.
