UW Puts Up Valiant Vegas Effort, Loses to San Diego State in OT

The Huskies finished their trip to Las Vegas with an overtime loss to the Aztecs.

The Washington basketball team put on a show for an ESPN2 TV audience to see on Sunday night, but couldn't finish it off, losing to NCAA tournament runner-up San Diego State in an overtime thriller, 100-97, in the Continental Tire Main Event championship in Las Vegas. 

After trailing by as many as 12 points with just over five minutes left in the game, the Huskies (3-2) went on a 7-0 scoring run to send the game to the extra session. They had a chance to win it with one second left but UW gaurd Paul Mulcahy could sink just the second of two free throws. His first attempt rimmed out.

UW forward Keion Brooks Jr., who finished with a team-high 22 points, made all four of his shots in the bonus period before turning the ball over with 14 seconds remaining as he backed in and looked for a shot. Still, he came away greatly encouraged. 

"To push it to overtime against a good team like that, I'm extremely proud of our fight, how determined we were," Brooks said. "I think we made a lot of winning plays."

Graduate transfer forward Moses Wood missed the final shot of the game for UW, a corner 3-pointer, to fall just short against the Aztecs (4-1). It appeared that Wood drew a foul on the shot, a slap on the wrist, but no call was made.

All five Husky starters scored in double figures with Brooks supported by Sahvir Wheeler, who had 19; Wood who dropped in 18; Mulcahy, who finished with 11, and center Franck Kepnang, who had 10.  

"It was great for this team because we're getting used to each other," Brooks said. "We have a lot of new guys."

The Huskies (3-2) led for nearly 11 minutes in the first half, but were unable to maintain the edge as Aztecs forward Jaedon LeDee picked apart the UW defense. He finished with a game-high 32 points, a career high, with 14 points coming from the free-throw line, and had 16 rebounds.

UW closed out regulation play with seven unanswered points, including a pair of baskets from Wheeler, who finished with his season high 19 on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. 

In foul trouble, Hopkins put his team back in a zone defense, which used to his staple, and it helped slow down San Diego State.

UW used a 8-0 run to get back into the game after trailing by three at halftime and retook the lead, 50-49, with 14:17 remaining as Brooks Jr. added 2 of his 22 points in the half. 

The Aztecs had too much offense for the Huskies as they went on a 13-4 run with under nine minutes left to extend their lead to 78-68 with 5:14 remaining. 

The Huskies were good early, stretching their lead to 32-25 with 7:27 remaining in the first half when Kepnang slammed home a two-handed dunk off a pass from sophomore guard Koren Johnson. 

Not to be outdone SDSU went on a 18-8 run to close out the first half, capped off by Darrion Trammell knocking down a 3-pointer as the clock expired to give the Aztecs a 43-40 lead at the break.

Washington returns to Alaska Airlines Arena on Nov. 28 to host UC San Diego and former UW forward J'Raan Brooks.

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