Recap: Andrews Drops 47 on the Cougs, Washington Wins 99-91

Washington started off the night with an offensive flurry. With 17:30 remaining in the first half Andrew Andrews hit a three-pointer through enough contact for the official to blow the whistle. The senior hit the free throw to make it 10-2, though Que Johnson quickly cut the lead down to five by answering with a three of his own.

Both teams kept up a frenetic pace for the next several minutes, with WSU feeding the ball into the post and getting points from both Hawkinson and Clifford.

Following a Clifford bucket that tied it up 14-14 with 14 minutes in the half, Chriss soared up to grab a lob and finish magnificently to reestablish a two-point lead.

King drained a wide-open three from the corner to claim a 21-19 lead with 9:30 on the clock, taking advantage of an awful stretch of shooting for the Huskies. The Cougs maintained a small lead over the next few possessions, taking a 25-23 lead into the TV timeout at the 8-minute mark.

Murray hit two free throws after the break to tie it back up, but Clifford quickly responded by sinking a jumper. On the very next possession King hit a tough three from the corner.

In a characteristic sequence, Dejounte hit a long two, turned the ball over on the next possession, redeemed himself by ripping the ball away from Iroegbu, then fed Andrews with a beautiful bounce pass that resulted in an and-one.

Another WSU turnover allowed Andrews another easy layup on the break. Ernie Kent was forced to call timeout suddenly down 34-30 with 4:28 left in the half.

The rest of the half played out in chaotic fashion, with both teams scoring points in bunches. The Huskies found success through Andrews and Murray, while the Cougs continued to feed the ball in to Hawkinson and Clifford.

Andrews hit a deep fadeaway two with 40 seconds on the clock, setting up a two-for-one situation.

The Huskies initially botched the final possession of the half, allowing the Cougs to tip the ball into the backcourt, but Dejounte Murray scooped up the ball and heaved up a thirty-footer that dropped in at the buzzer, giving the Huskies a 48-38 lead at the half.

Andrews led all scorers with 20 points fueled by 9-9 free throw shooting. Murray chipped in 13 points of his own. Clifford was an unlikely spark for the Cougs, scoring 12 on 5-6 shooting despite starting out on the bench.

WSU hit four three-pointers and shot 50% from the field, but committed 11 turnovers compared to only 2 for Washington.

The second half opened with a quick score from Malik Dime. Less than two minutes later Andrews hesitated before draining a mid-range jumper, forcing Ernie Kent to call timeout down 52-40.

Out of the timeout Que Johnson hit a jumper from the top of the key to start off a wild sequence. Thybulle immediately responded by knocking down a corner. Iroegbu quickly sliced into the lane and laid it in, but it would hardly matter.

Seven seconds later Andrews nailed a trey from the wing. Ike tried to answer but Chriss corralled his miss, starting a break that ended with another Andrews-to-Chriss alley-oop. Redding tried from deep but failed, and soon after the Cougs foolishly sagged off Andrews and allowed him to step in to his third three of the night.

Washington State called timeout trailing 63-44 with 15:59 remaining, Andrews having completely taken over the contest, with 28 points and plenty of time left to keep scoring.

Clifford steadied the ship for the Cougs by scoring twice soon after the break, and a Que Johnson jumper trimmed the lead to 15 points with 14 minutes on the clock.

Andrews attempted a heat-check three and nailed it to make it 31 points on senior night. After making two free throws for his 32nd and 33rd points, Andrews rained down another three with 11:24 left, then on his next trip down the floor stepped just inside the line and hit a long two.

Leading 82-59 with under ten minutes on the clock, Andrews stepped back for an uncontested jumper to give the senior forty points. A few seconds later he ripped down a board and finished on the break, his momentum taking him tumbling into the cheerleaders.

The senior checked out of the game at the eight minute mark to a massive ovation, his Huskies comfortably sitting on a 25-point lead.

Andrews checked back in with around five minutes left and Washington up 87-64. WSU went on a bit of a late mini-run over the next several possessions, but David Crisp converted through contact and hit the free throw to reestablish a twenty-point lead with 3:30 remaining.

The Huskies took a timeout at the three-minute mark and Andrews checked out again to another standing ovation and a hug from every teammate. Dan Kingma took his place on the court.

With only three minutes to work with, the Cougs went on a 9-0 run to make it a ten-point deficit with 1:09 on the clock. Kingma turned the ball over via a ten-second violation with 58 seconds left, but Dime corralled a Boese miss, drew a whistle, and hit two free throws.

Andrews, pressed back into duty by suddenly competitive circumstances, ended up tacking on five more points via free throws as the Cougs continued to score with urgency and immediately foul. It was a valiant finish for Ernie Kent's squad, but the Huskies triumphed 99-91.

The 47-point performance would have been the highest scoring game in Division I basketball this season except that a player from St. Bonaventure also scored 47 points earlier tonight. So we'll call it a tie. Andrews also pulled down 6 boards and added 4 assists. He never turned the ball over.

Despite the awkwardly competitive finish, it was a beautiful way for Andrews to say goodbye to the home fans on Montlake. He could have transferred like just about every other player before this season, and instead he chose to stick around and turned in one of the finest individual seasons in program history.

It was only fitting that he would save his best performance for Senior Night against a bitter rival.

Murray and Chriss could very well have also just completed their final home game in the purple and gold. Murray scored 15 points and dished 4 assists. Chriss scored 9 before fouling out via a technical in the final minutes.

For the Cougs, Hawkinson had a monster night with 23 points and 17 boards. Que Johnson, part of the big run in the final minutes, ended up scoring 20. Clifford, who kept WSU afloat in the first half, contributed 18.

After taking a moment to enjoy securing the season sweep over Washington State, the Huskies will look towards the Pac-12 tournament knowing they will need to put together a deep run to hope for a tourney bid.