Huskies Give Arizona a Game But Can't Win It

Mike Hopkins' team builds 14-point lead in Tucson, but lets it slip away.

It was fun while it lasted, but who honestly thought it would last?

Mike Hopkins' University of Washington basketball team rushed out to a 14-point lead late in the opening half, only to give it all back and ultimately lose to No. 5-ranked Arizona 70-67 on Thursday night in Tucson.

Coming off a pair of tepid home defeats to the Los Angeles schools, these Huskies (9-7 overall, 1-4 Pac-12) played inspired — make that way over their heads — by taking the game right to the Wildcats (14-1, 3-1) and leaving their desert hosts a little stunned by building a 38-24 advantage.

But reality quickly caught up to this UW basketball team, which was outscored 15-0 over a near four-minute stretch leading up to halftime to dull those early heroics.

The Huskies went back in front by 50-43 in the second half before Arizona said enough was enough and rattled off another 13-0 splurge to take over, keep the UW at arm's length and extend its McKale Center winning streak to 28.

Braxton Meah played tough inside against Arizona.  :: Zachary BonDurant/USA TODAY Sports

Forwards Keion Brooks, the Kentucky transfer, and Cole Bajema shared the UW scoring lead with 16 points each, while guard Noah Williams chipped in 12.

Azuolas Tubelis, the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Lithuanian, topped Arizona with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow big man Oumar Ballo added 15 points and 7 boards.

After falling behind for the first time in the game at 39-38, the Huskies regrouped with four points to the buzzer from Bajema on a 3-pointer and a technical foul shot to restore a 42-39 lead at the break. 

What was different on this night about these guys wearing the black Washington uniforms, at least for the first 20 minutes, was they discovered how to hit 3-pointers again.  

After going a ridiculous 2-for-25 behind the arc against UCLA, the Huskies hit 6 of 13 in the first half at Arizona, with PJ Fuller sinking 3 of 4 of his threes. Yet the UW cooled off considerably after the break, hurting its chances for the upset.

Both teams, in fact, finished the game shooting 9 for 26 from the outer reaches. 

Brooks scored the UW's first six points of the second half and Braxton Meah dunked on a pair of Wildcats for a 50-43 lead with 12:11 left in the game.

Yet that's where Arizona finally took the lead for good, though it couldn't put any real safe distance between itself and the Huskies.

As has been the case for much of the season, the UW offense disappeared though the effort didn't. Brooks' tying 3-pointer bounced off with 5 seconds left preventing a fairy-tale ending.

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