Huskies knock off #13 UCLA 86-75

by John Berkowitz on Jan 24, 2009 3:30 PM PST Comment 16 comments

Washington knocked off #13 UCLA 86-75 in front of a full house at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The victory propelled the Huskies in the Pac 10 conference lead.

Washington fell behind by as many as nine early in the first half but were able to get back in the game pretty quickly. The Bruins and the Dawgs played pretty evenly during the first half as UCLA led 39-38 at intermission.

UCLA's Josh Shipp was unconscious during the first half hitting three's. He led the Bruins with 25 points and kept the Bruins in the game with his sharp shooting. UW was able to control him better in the second half by putting Justin Holiday on him.

UW built a lead in the second half building after trailing most of the first stanza. Justin Dentmon ran into early foul trouble and Venoy Overton filled in well for him scoring 10 points and supplying good defense. Dentmon was strong from the free throw line hitting 10-10 and finished with 16 points.

Isaiah Thomas continues to improve with every game. He had a great game tonight scoring 24 points. He hit one deep three that just blew everyone away. He also showed some deft passing and defense.

Jon Brockman bounced from a poor offensive performance against USC and scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Quincy Pondexter added 10 points for the Dawgs.

Washington started putting this one away int he last ten minutes. The Huskies led by five with eight minutes remaining and pulled slowly away. The Washington back court was just too quick tonight for the Bruins. Quality minutes from Venoy Overton was big factor in the game.

Up next for Washington in a trip to the desert to play the Arizona schools to finish out the first half of the Pac 10 season.

Game highlights:

One of the big keys to the were free throws. The Huskies hit 36-43 from the free throw line compared to only 10-15 for the Bruins.

The Bruins actually out rebounded the Huskies 32-31.

UCLA was 9-24 from three point land but Josh Shipp was 6-9.

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Huge, huge win. As long as the UW doesn’t totally collapse in the 2nd half of Pac-10 play, they should be tournament-bound. If they keep their focus, they could win the conference and earn a #3 seed or better.

Nice to see the Huskies back in the thick of college basketball. It’s been a tough 2 years…

by kirkd on Jan 24, 2009 4:51 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I hope they can take

what I see as a tough attitude reminiscent of the glory days on the road with them. The next 4 games are all winnable and will decide whether they will “make” the tourney or actually go somewhere.

Fun game to watch even via the web.

by hairofthedawg on Jan 24, 2009 5:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

There's no way we lose to Arizona.

But Arizona St. would be a stretch. I see this team at 16-5 at the midpoint of the Pac-10 season.

Big Z is the MAN.

by Taylor H on Jan 24, 2009 5:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

but it could happen and I’m so starved for good sports news, I’ll dream. My expectations have been exceeded so far so I won’t be disappointed if we take a slide. Mainly, I’m just happy to have something to cheer about and this was a great week! C’mon Hasiak, keep it going!!

by hairofthedawg on Jan 24, 2009 5:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Nice LA Sweep but the hard part is coming up Next!

We needed to sweep the LA schools at home! This was huge- BIGTIME! Why because the next four are even HUGER (not a word, but I am using it for emphasis). A four game stretch on the road is going to be tough, considering it is Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, and Stanford. Those four schools are considered the upper tier of the league and it is all on the road.

Everyone of these games are winnable, but we’ll have to play crisp basketball and I’d like to see us play with some swagger in order to try to intimidate these foes- definitely could play above the rim a little more but I am not complaining since we are “the team to beat”.

If we are not ranked this week then something is wrong!

by crazidawg on Jan 24, 2009 5:41 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I may Stand Corrected

This may not be the toughest part of the season coming up in the next 2 weeks. We all know ASU is going to be a hard tough game to win. But I’m not so sure about Arizona, Cal, and Stanford anymore after seeing the Sunday Sports box scores.

How the hell does Oregon State whip both Cal and Stanford? Are the Beavs that much improved since we played them? Has the inaugeration of Barak Obama created something special at Oregon State? What is going on with the Beavs? With Cal and Stanford both losing to Oregon State makes you wonder if they’ve already plateaued this season. Arizona State is going to be the big game and I say if we can dump them in their building we may not lose another game on our schedule. One thing I do know is we haven’t plateaued. This team is just beginning to find it’s stride and the team chemistry is on like donkey kong. I think we’ve got along ways to go before we see a plateau in the season.

Go Huskies! WOOF!!!

by crazidawg on Jan 25, 2009 12:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget Holiday with a few excellent assists, solid defense, a good share of rebounds, and a key 3-pointer.

Also I think we did really well despite lights-out 3-point shooting by UCLA. Their 3-pointer % is deflated because of a few desperation-type threes thrown up at the end of the game.

by lailaihei on Jan 24, 2009 5:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Loved seeing the swagger running on the big W

This team will live or die with their guards, but with Dentmon, Thomas and Overton they have some tough-minded playmakers who are all willing to set the tone on the floor.

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Jan 24, 2009 5:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hustle and Intensity

This team plays so hard the entire game. They seem to wear teams down. Romar has really done an outstanding job getting the team to play hard the entire game. Also the team plays together. Tough 4 games ahead, but if we continue to play hard we have a good shot of doing ok.

by Fighting Husky on Jan 24, 2009 7:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

the swagger is back

its so nice to see the swagger back at montlake!! this team plays hard the whole game and does not loose focus no matter what the game situation is..guard play is outstanding..and then we have the beast in the paint awaiting all loose balls…and the icing is the nice turn around at the charity stripe,,,they should make the tourney…and then let the madness begin baby….GO DAWGS!!!!!!!

by biglou62 on Jan 24, 2009 7:51 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

CENTSPORTS!!!!!!!!

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by Hansborough on Jan 24, 2009 9:11 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

go spam someone else....

by hairofthedawg on Jan 24, 2009 9:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Live or die with the guards

If that’s the case, I love our chances. They looked great tonight despite JDs foul problems, and they finished strong. Much improvement over the Cal and SC finish. Its a fun team when they get rolling.

by dawgdude on Jan 24, 2009 9:17 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Ucla NOT all that

I thought Ucla would flex more muscle then from what I saw. Their post play is not that good even though they challenged us on the boards. I think three of the best teams in the league right now are Arizona State, Cal, and Stanford. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ucla fell in the tank a bit this season. They have some serious flaws. No big low post threat, realitively youthful and lack experience. Not to mention I think their cockiness is going to get the better of them this season.

We can talk about the great guard play of Thomas, Dentmon, and Overton, or we can talk about our prize fighter Brocky, and the defensive impact that Q and Holiday bring. But from what I am seeing from this Husky team that strikes me the most is everybody contributes in one way or another and our win/loss column reflects that. Coach Romar had better have his team prepared for this next two week stretch- it’s going to be the toughest part of the season.

Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!

by crazidawg on Jan 24, 2009 10:43 PM PST reply actions 0 recs