On an overtime buzzer-beater from Washington guard Isaiah Thomas, the Huskies slipped past the No.1 seed Arizona Wildcats to win the Pacific 10 Conference Title game in Los Angeles Saturday.
Thomas scored 28 to go along with seven assists to tip Arizona’s Derrick Williams, who put in 24 points and 11 rebounds for Sean Miller’s Wildcats.
With the Wildcats down 7-6, forward Jamelle Horne, cold off the bench, hit a 3-pointer then following that on the defensive end with a steal that led to a Williams reverse dunk. Williams led Arizona with seven points and four rebounds in the first half.
Washington went to a 2-3 zone defense halfway through the first half, but after a few minutes of feeling it out, Arizona started moving the ball well. In the high post, Parrom found Williams underneath for a dunk with 5:49 and Jordin Mayes hit his second 3-pointer with 4:53 before the half, giving Arizona a 32-24 lead.
Arizona didn’t commit a personal foul until 9:23 remained in the first half, but only connected on 6-for-11 from the foul stripe. Arizona shot 48 percent from the field to Washington’s 43 percent.
The Wildcats led the Huskies 36-33 at halftime despite UW guard Isaiah Thomas’ 19 points. Washington kept close without starting forward Bryan-Amaning, who picked up two early fouls and sat for the final 13:30 of the half.
Washington tied the game at 42 apiece with a strong start to the second half, including five points from freshman Terrence Ross, who had __ on the day.
Then, Ross caught a lob pass with less than 15 minutes to play to give Washington its first lead since the 7:38 mark in the first half, but Williams retaliated with a dunk of his own on the next play.
UW took a 51-46 lead as the clock approached the 11 minute mark. Parrom drilled a 3-pointer under the 10 minutes mark to cut the lead to one.
Thomas didn’t score in the second half until 6:58 remained, when he scored an And 1 to give Washington a four point lead. But Thomas missed two big free throws after the six minute mark, and Jones hit his first basket — he was 0-for-5 prior — on a 3-pointer to put the score at 59-58.
Taking back the lead on two Williams free throws, a goaltend was called on a Hill floater before Jones drew a charge on Thomas during the ensuing possession.
Isaiah Thomas drilled a dagger 3-pointer to bring the Huskies within one point, 63-62, with 32 seconds left in the game. But UW’s fullcourt press broke down, and Williams found himself open, drew a foul as he attacked the basket and made the shot. His free throw gave Arizona a 66-62 lead with 27 seconds left.
Thomas dished to Ross for a 3-pointer on the next play to come within one point yet again. Jones hit two free throws and without a timeout, Thomas drove and kicked the ball to C.J. Wilcox, who nailed a 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds on the clock.
A wild attempt by Jones wouldn’t go in at the buzzer and the game went into overtime.
Parrom failed to get back on defense and a push gave Wilcox a dunk with 44 seconds left in overtime, which gave UW a 75-72 lead. The UA forward made up or his poor transitional defense, hitting a 3-pointer to tie it. But with the last possession theirs, Thomas shaked and baked Jones to hit a 20-foot jumper, the ball swishing through the net as the horn sounded.
