Washington Huskies Run Away Late For A 82-72 Victory Over the Beavers

After 19 lead changes, the Washington Huskies finally pulled away to give the Huskies (9-7, 4-2) a big win over the Oregon State Beavers (3-14, 1-6) and also gave Acting Head Coach Will Conroy his first coaching victory of his career. The Washington Huskies used balanced scoring and timely defense to pull out a 82-72 victory and by far the best offensive performance of the season.

The Washington Huskies came into Corvallis winning 3 of the last 4 games and hoping to keep the momentum going. The Huskies were faced with some pregame adversity when Coach Mike Hopkins was announced to be in Covid Protocol and would be missing the game. In his place, former Husky player and current Assistant Coach, Will Conroy would lead the charge and help set the tone.

With Conroy making his head coaching debut, the Huskies looked to have an extra bounce in their step. Both teams were getting good shots and went back and forth. Emmitt Matthews got Washington started with a corner 3 off a great drive and kick from Terrell Brown. There was also a unicorn sighting when Nate Roberts hit a tough left handed hook shot/runner to tie the game up at 5-5.

The Beavers went down low to 7’1 Roman Silva early on and he scored the Beavers first 5 points and Washington was not giving him much resistance. Silva has had success versus the Huskies before and was looking like Arvydas Sabonis in the paint against an outmatched Washington front line. Last year he scored 14 points off 6/7 shooting and picked up where he left off today.

Riley Sorn made his first appearance since the Arizona game after being on the Covid List and made his presence known right away with a dunk and rebound. Sorn did look a little slow out there after missing 3 games and Oregon State was able to score a few buckets on Sorn. Washington shuffled the 5 spot by also bringing in Langston Wilson who had a nice dunk and Jackson Grant got a couple of minutes in before a quick hook.

Terrell Brown didn’t score his first basket until the 11 minute mark and also missed his first two free throws which was uncharacteristic of him. Brown would bounce back of course, finishing with 9 points and 4 assists in the first half. Brown scored a big basket right before halftime to pull with 2 points which was a big momentum play.

Emmitt Matthews played a solid first half with 10 points and highlight dunk off a lob from Terrell Brown. Matthews also forced a foul on his 3 point attempt with a great fake and ended up hitting all 3 free throws when it looked like Oregon State was trying to pull away.

One surprise in the first half was that Washington only registered 1 steal after leading the conference so far with 13.2 steals per game in 5 conference games. Oregon State did a good job of taking care of the ball and a few deflections always seemed to wind up in the Beavers arms. With less steals, Washington would have to rebound and play longer defensive sets which allowed Oregon State to mostly control the first half.

Steals, Dunks and Timely baskets help Washington to pull away

The Huskies have been behind at halftime in 9 of the last 10 games and today would be no different. Both teams would go back and forth early on in the 2^nd half with 19 lead changes up until the 14 minute mark. The action got started off a Daejon Davis steal that led to a Tomahawk jam for Emmitt Mathews, his 2^nd monster dunk of the game and Washington’s 5^th dunk of the game.

Washington was finally able to get some separation after the under 16 minute timeout. Terrell Brown was doing what he has done all year getting to the hoop and scoring inside. The 2^nd half would also see the Dawgs get out into transition more with steals leading to dunks but also grabbing rebounds and pushing it up the court for quick transition buckets as well. When the Dawgs are running, they have shown to be dangerous and helped Washington go on a big 2^nd half run.

Daejon Davis had the earlier steal that led to a Matthews dunk but then decided to serve himself with another steal that led to his own dunk. Davis was everywhere and stuffed the box score with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a block before fouling out.

Jamal Bey and PJ Fuller also woke up in the 2^nd half with big buckets respectively. Jamal Bey started off the game slow but hit a big 3 to give Washington a 10 point lead with 10 minutes left and then hit a nice mid range jumper a few minutes later as the shot clock was winding down. PJ Fuller, who has been in a mini slump in Pac 12 play hit probably the biggest 3 of the game late in the game when Oregon State was making a late run. PJ Fuller also showed off his blazing speed by dribbling up the court off a rebound for a coast to coast layup.

Washington was able to close it out with some big stops and pulled out a 10-point win to also give Will Conroy his first coaching victory of his career. Washington showcased a well-balanced attack led by of course Terrell Brown (27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists), but more importantly got production from several players today. Emmitt Matthews had 16 points and 4 rebounds but also was perfect from the free throw line (7-7). PJ Fuller finished with 11 points and Jamal Bey chipped in 10 points to give Washington four guys in double digits.

Washington next goes to Eugene to play an Oregon team that is playing their best basketball of the season, with a chance to sweep the Oregon Schools. The Dawgs play Oregon on Sunday at 7 pm. A victory over Oregon could make things interesting in the conference.

Double Bonus Dots:

• Washington shot a scorching 54.5% from the field today, by far their best performance of the season. UW also got to the line 22 times and shot 72.7% to help preserve the win.
• Washington also finished with 16 assists and did a great job haring the ball all night long.
• Both teams struggle with rebounding (UW #11 and Oregon State #12 in conference) and Oregon State finished with a slight edge 31 to 30 but Washington was able to battle back in the 2nd half and had 8 offensive boards for 2nd chance buckets.
• Jarod Lucas has been a thorn in UW’s side in the past, only had 9 points off 4-10 shooting and 1-5 from 3. Oregon State only shot 3-19 from 3 all game, which was a major key to victory.
• UW finished with 6 dunks in the game, a season high for the Dawgs. Matthews had the best two dunks and honorable mention goes to Nate Roberts thunderous slam.
• Player of Game Terrell Brown: Might as well and write this in ink for the rest of the season and give an award for 2nd Player of the game. Emmitt Matthews and Daejon Davis both Deserve honors for runner up.