Game recap: Huskies 95, Buffaloes 83

Takeaway

Andrew Andrews, the Pac-12 Conference’s leading scorer, put up 33 points, including 16 0f 17 from the free throw line, as the Huskies dominated a 14-5 Colorado team 95-83 Wednesday night (box) before a raucous 6,325 at Hec Ed Pavilion to maintain a share of the conference lead.

The Huskies (13-5, 5-1 Pac-12) entered the game second in the nation in fouls, but played a more disciplined defensive game that featured a school-record 15 blocked shots, seven by reserve center Malik Dime.

Essential moment

After Washington built its biggest lead at 71-49, Colorado scored 10 in a row before Andrews answered with a three-ball to stem the Buffaloes’ momentum.

The Huskies stretched the lead back to 20, but Colorado closed to 87-80 inside two minutes before Andrews hit four free throws in a row.

Defense

The Huskies forced numerous turnovers and rejected shots that turned into fast breaks that made for their best opening period of the season, pounding home three alley-oop dunks on the way to to a 47-33 halftime lead. Besides Dime’s seven, Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray each had five blocks.

The Huskies managed to stay out of foul trouble until things became sloppy late.

Offense

Murray and Chriss each had 17 points, the latter making eight of nine field goal attempts, missing only a tip-jam in the late going. The Huskies’ outside shooting eye was better-focused than for most of the season, hitting eight of 17 treys.

Washington out-rebounded Colorado, which has happened to the Buffs only twice this season, 39-34, with four players having six each.

Words

“We played extremely well at both ends of the floor. Something we’ve talked about doing is putting it all together and not getting in foul trouble.” — UW coach Lorenzo Romar

“We’re starting to believe our defense can help us win games.”  — Chriss

Noteworthy

After scoring 30 in his last outing at Arizona State, Andrews, entering the game with a 21.4 ppg average, moved into 11th place in UW scoring history with 1,506 points, passing Brandon Roy, Doug Smart, Deon Luton and Louie Nelson. He trails Steve Hawes by 10 . . .  It was Andrews’ sixth career game of 30 or more points, most since Todd McCulloch  (1996-99)  had eight  . . . Dominique Collier hit six of seven from beyond the arc to lead Colorado with a career-high 21 points . . . Freshman forward Devenir Duruisseau, who had a concussion last week in practice and missed the past three games, is expected to be available Sunday when Washington hosts Utah at 5:30 p.m.