Arizona 87, Washington 86
Date: February 19, 2011
Venue: McHale Center
City: Tucson, AZ
Attendance: 14,000
Arizona All-America candidate Derrick Williams blocked a Darnell Gant jump hook with two-tenths of a second left to preserve the Wildcats’ 87-86 victory over Washington. UW gained an unexpected possession to attempt a game winner when Momo Jones fumbled away an in-bounds pass with 2.2 seconds left. But Gant’s attempt in the paint was blocked into the stands by the 6-foot-8 Williams. On the inbounds pass with 0.2 left, he knocked it away again for the win. The 12th-ranked Wildcats (23-4, 12-4 in the Pac-10) are in the driver’s seat for the conference title. The Huskies (18-8, 10-5) will have to scramble to get into the NCAA Tournament. Williams finished with 26 points, UW’s Matthew Bryan-Amaning had 24 while C.J. Wilcox had 19 off the bench.
Star Of The Game
Derrick Williams, the 6-foot-8 Wildcat sophomore forward had 26 points and made two key defensive plays in the final moments to help perserve the victory.
Play of the game
Williams’ block of a Darnell Gant four-footer with two-tenths of a second remaining secured the one-point victory.
Misplay of the game
For the Huskies it came after Arizona’s Jesse Perry had his shot blocked by Matthew Bryan-Amaning. It went right into the hands of Wildcat teammate Solomon Hill underneath. He quickly puts it in with 25 seconds left and it held up as the game-winner.
Highlights
- Matthew Bryan-Amaning Scored 18 of his team-high 24 in the second half. He also had nine rebounds and six blocks.
- C.J. Wilcox Came off the bench to score 19 points. He made four of his team’s five three-pointers.
- Venoy Overton Made his fourth start of the season, scoring six points with four assists.
- Aziz NDiaye Came of the bench for the first time since Nov. 24 but still had four trouble. He finished with just two points and two rebounds.
- Isaiah Thomas Had nine assists against two turnovers. He finished with 12 points.
- Terrence Ross Scored five points, after no points Thursday against ASU.
- Darnell Gant Started in place of Aziz N’Diaye, who was late for the team bus. He had some foul trouble, finished with seven points and five rebounds.
- Justin Holiday Made 4-of-8 from the floor and finished with 11 points.
- Brendan Sherrer With injuries to key players, he could have been used against the Arizona schools but didn’t make the trip because of staph infection.
Lowlights
- Aziz N’Diaye did not start for the first time since Nov. 24 because he broke a team rule.
- Huskies down to eight scholarship players because of injuries to Scott Suggs and Addul Gaddy. Brandan Sherrer also did not make the trip because of staph infection.
Notable
- The Huskies had 10 blocks to give them 143, four more than the school record set in 2002.
Said
- We can’t get it done now. We have to move on and make sure we get in this NCAA Tournament at this point. It hurts that we can’t be the champion right now. We were picked to win the league and it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. But if we can continue to rebound and get better in these next three weeks I think our team is good enough to make some noise.” – UW Lorenzo Romar, after the 87-86 loss to Arizona denied their conference title hopes.
- We’ve bounced back from how we were two weeks ago against the Oregon schools. The way we’ve improved and practiced we’ve been competing a lot better. That definitely carried over into the games. Arizona is a real physical team, a real tough team and we were able to battle them at their own gym.” – UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning on the Huskies’ lost to Arizona.
- We finished third last year and ended up going to the Sweet 16. We just have to have the attitude that every game you play is your last game and knowing that we’re not in the Tournament. We have to play our way in right now.” – UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning of where the Huskies are after their one-point loss to Arizona.
Injuries
- Scott Suggs Missed the game – and possibly a couple more – with a strained MCL ligament in his left knee.
- Brendan Sherrer Stayed behind in Seattle with strep throat.
Numbers
- 16 – Offensive rebounds by Arizona, a key element in how the Wildcats kept UW at arm’s length throughout.
- 61.1 – Shooting percentage for Arizona from three-point range, 11 of 18.
3 Comments
Starting Overton seemed kind of puzzling considering how effective he has been coming off the bench. I guess Romar believes in rewarding his seniors, but maybe it’s time he gave Wilcox a chance in the starting line up. While this might not have changed the outcome of the game, it could have opened things for the Husky’s offense early in the game.
Besides, when Isaiah and Vernoy start it is difficult to tell who is playing point and – quite frankly – they look a little confused about their roles as well.
Derrick Williams is an impressive physical player, but he didn’t commit even one foul in that game? I have long expected super star treatment in the NBA, but in college???
That your story includes not a single comment on the officiating is the single most noteworthy aspect of your article. Generally, I would commend a journalist or fan for ignoring that subject, but in this case, the game itself was almost over-shadowed by the perception by the MASSES that the officiating was tainted by ineptness which then tainted the game. I do applaud you for not making the officiating the central theme of this article, but no mention of the fans reactions, players comments, or coaches comments required some fancy footwork on your part in avoiding those news realities. Avoiding that issue required you not quote the MVP of the game regarding the play you attributed in your story as being the critical and game deciding play – the block of Gant’s shot by DW. Your story centered around that single play and yet never once mentioned that the play was controversial. Get Art to come up with an appropriately cutting metaphor to add here.