Husky Win Streak Disappears as Cougars Hand Out a Beatdown

Mike Hopkins' Washington team was never a factor in the state rivalry game.

Washington State University arrived in Seattle as a struggling basketball team and left totally rejuvenated.

Finding plenty of weaknesses to exploit, the Cougars went right at them and didn't let up until they ended their six-game losing streak with a 77-62 victory over Washington on Sunday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.

For the Huskies (3-12 overall, 2-8 Pac-12), their two-game win streak quickly was a thing of the past and they dropped out of a 10th-place conference tie with their state rivals.

"They played harder than we did," UW guard Jamal Bey said. "We can't let that happen. We put on this University of Washington uniform and we can't let that happen."

The Cougars (10-7, 3-7) won this one because they had the top big man and best backcourt player on the floor. 

They relied on a Shawn Kemp impersonator who came from halfway around the world to make a difference — 6-foot-10 Efe Abogidi. Early on, the Nigerian-born, Australian-schooled big man was a terror inside. 

Just a freshman, the freakish Abogidi threw down a pair of wind-up dunks and wheeled around the UW zone for easy bank shots. He basically camped down low and had his way with Nate Roberts and Riley Sorn, scoring 12 of his 13 points in the opening half and adding 12 rebounds. 

Isaac Bonton, who missed the previous game for reasons unknown, was in attendance on this night and proved unstoppable as he led all scorers with 25. He got his points driving to the basket or dropping them from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 17 shots. 

Making matters worse, WSU, which trailed only 13-12 and 15-14, fed the ball inside to Dishon Jackson to open each half. 

Another 6-10 freshman. 

Only from California. 

Jackson chipped in 11 points and 3 rebounds.

The Huskies have no reliable big men this season. 

Nobody.

"They put the two young guys in and pounded us on the glass," UW coach Mike Hopkins said. "They played tougher than us. You've got to come and bring the heart."

Against WSU, the guards couldn't make up the difference.

Abogidi was largely responsible for the visitors building a 38-29 halftime lead and Jackson helped them ease out to a 17-point advantage early in the second half and put the game out of reach.

The Huskies played with energy in the opening half, but just weren't as focused as they had been in wins over Colorado and Utah. They threw the ball away 18 times. They got beat bad on the boards 48-28.

A few minutes into the game, WSU's Noah Williams exposed the lackadaisical situation for everyone to see.

On an inbounds play, Williams purposely threw the ball off Erik Stevenson's back, recovered it and was fouled as he went to the hoop and got two free throws out of the clever ploy. 

The son of former Cougar standout Guy Williams, he finished with 21 points before sitting down with two technicals for rubbing things in a bit.

The low point on the scoreboard for the Huskies came when WSU's Bonton, a Portland native, drove for a basket with eight-plus minutes left to play and a comfortable 63-41 lead.

Quade Green topped the UW with 20 points and Erik Stevenson added 13, though neither shot very well.

The Cougars won their third consecutive game in the series under coach Kyle Smith.

The Huskies will try to forget this one and rebound at Oregon State (8-7, 4-5) on Thursday.

"You've got to play for your teammates," Hopkins said. "I didn't see a lot of that tonight."