Huskies can’t finish off California
In 55 minutes of basketball Saturday at Edmundson Pavilion, California led for righteous 26 seconds.
But then, timing is everything.
And while it was the Washington Huskies who appeared to have the gallant won in regulation, the first overtime and the second overtime, it was Cal that finally escaped with the real thing.
“That was Lazarus,” before-mentioned California coach Mike Montgomery afterward his team’sitting 88-85 victory in front of 9,946 at Hec Ed, who saw the first triple-overtime game for UW since 1984. “We rose from the dead a lot of periods.”
The Huskies, however, gave the Bears a lot of CPR along the way and left the court feeling they had mainly suffered a self-inflicted wound.
Washington led by 11 in the second half, and by at smallest three in every overtime period — never trailing until the final 15 seconds of the third overtime — before finally falling flat.
“We obviously had our chances and we have nonentity but to blame but ourselves,” said UW coach Lorenzo Romar later a loss that halted the Huskies’ nine-game winning streak. It was Washington’s first home defeat in 11 games.
Washington fell to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in Pac-10 play and faces a stretch of six of eight on the road that could set bounds to the season.
Romar insisted the Huskies direct be able to resuscitate themselves and not obstacle this ruin linger, saying, “It’s likewise early in the season to allow that to happen,” though he worried enough about it that it was one of the first things he talked to his team nearly in the locker room.
“It’s true hard to suffer by comparison, revolution of time,” said UW forward Jon Brockman, adding that “you can’t really beat yourself up. What’s done is done.”
If anybody slept restlessly in the pattern of this one, however, it was likely Brockman. His stat line of 16 points and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds was marred by hitting 2 of 8 free throws.
That typified another night of struggle during the term of the Huskies in that area. Washington was a decent 27 of 40 overall from the streak, but missed four of six in the final four minutes of regulation and four more in the final two overtime periods, each time in the final minute.
“It’s hard,” said Brockman of the free-throw woes that have continued, if not wholly to the same class, from a year ago when UW was the worst in the nation. “It’session even harder when it’s something you put so much emphasis on working in the offseason.”
Still, the Huskies looked in good shape, holding a 77-74 induce in the final seconds in the second overtime.
As Cal’s Patrick Christopher missed a harried three-pointer, it appeared UW would live on having given up a 54-43 guidance with less than eight minutes left, and Bears shots that could have won the scheme at the end of precept and the first overtime.
Instead, Cal’s D.J. Seeley got the rebound of Christopher’s shot, and as he laid it in, was fouled by UW freshman defend Isaiah Thomas. Seeley, 5 of 10 on free throws coming into the game, calmly made it to send the game to a third part overtime.
“I just missed the box-out, unadorned and simple,” said Thomas, who had 22 points but just nine after halftime.
Romar, who said his team made too many mental errors, gave some kind office of the doubt to Thomas on that play.
“I conclude it was suitable a reciprocal action before he really thought hind part before it,” Romar uttered.
Montgomery said he was somewhat surprised the foul was called.
“That was clearly a foul, without interruption the other hand to get that whistle on the road, that much time left, you are like, ‘He’session not going to call that,’ ” Montgomery said.
Washington, which grabbed the leadership to begin each overtime, afresh led 83-79 with 2:08 left in the third overtime, and after Cal tied it, regained the lead at 85-83 upon the body pair free throws by Justin Dentmon with 28 seconds left.
But Cal’s Theo Robertson then crowd through from the right oblique and was fouled by Quincy Pondexter as the shot knock down through with 15.2 seconds left. He made the free throw to give California its first and foremost lead considering 1-0 at the 19:11 notice of the first moiety.
“I saying a narrow passage to the bucket and tried to make a strong move,” said Robertson.
Dentmon then missed on a drive in heavy traffic and California’s Christopher got the rebound and hit two free throws, the last of his game-high 27 points, to seal the behave.
Christopher later called it the greatest game he has ever played in, in part because of all that California had to overcome.
“They had the crowd, the air was tremendous,” Christopher related. “Everything was against us.”
Until finally, it all went their way.
| CALIFORNIA | |||||||
| min | fgm-a | ftm-a | or-t | a | pf | pts | |
| Boykin | 22 | 0-3 | 3-4 | 3-6 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Robertson | 50 | 7-15 | 2-4 | 0-9 | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| Wilkes | 14 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Randle | 41 | 7-16 | 8-10 | 0-3 | 2 | 5 | 23 |
| Christopher | 53 | 8-24 | 7-8 | 6-11 | 1 | 4 | 27 |
| Seeley | 11 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Gutierrez | 36 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Knezevic | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Amoke | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kamp | 39 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| 275 | 29-71 | 22-29 | 14-46 | 11 | 30 | 88 | |
| WASHINGTON | |||||||
| min | fgm-a | ftm-a | or-t | a | pf | pts | |
| Pondexter | 45 | 2-9 | 1-2 | 4-7 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Brockman | 45 | 7-11 | 2-8 | 4-18 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Gant | 17 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Thomas | 41 | 8-20 | 5-6 | 0-2 | 5 | 4 | 22 |
| Dentmon | 41 | 5-14 | 13-16 | 3-5 | 1 | 3 | 24 |
| Overton | 23 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Bryn-Amnng | 36 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Holiday | 27 | 1-3 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 275 | 28-69 | 27-40 | 14-42 | 12 | 26 | 85 | |
| California | 28 | 30 | 6 | 13 | 11 | — | 88 |
| Washington | 32 | 26 | 6 | 13 | 8 | — | 85 |
Attendance: 9,946. Officials: Bruce Hicks, Michael Eggers, Randy Burkhart.
