The Stony Brook Seawolves (Long Island, NY., American East) went on a 17-2 run down the stretch and recorded a shocking 62-57 upset of the 13th-ranked Washington Huskies Sunday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, ending UW’s 11-game winning streak. The Huskies had a 16-point lead at 13:43 of the second half but couldn’t hold it as Stony Brook defeated a ranked team for the first time in program history.
The loss will probably knock Washington, rated among The Associated Press top 15 for the first time since 2010, out of the national rankings.
“Success is sometimes hard to handle,” said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. “It (a 12-0 start) would have been special. But I didn’t have us as dialed in as we should have been. Defensively, we were lethargic. Offensively, we were impatient. We sleep-walked on both ends of the floor. You don’t want to drop one like this. We’d like to have this one back. Our most important practice of the year will be the next one (Monday).”
Stony Brook accomplished the comeback largely with 3-point shooting. Kameron Mitchell drained four 3-pointers late as the Seawolves methodically whittled away at Washington’s lead, finally tying the score at 57-57 on a Carson Puriefoy 3-pointer with 1:08 to play. Puriefoy went 1-for-11 before he hit that shot.
The Huskies never recovered and, in fact, didn’t score again, Mike Anderson and Nigel-Williams Goss missing last-ditch shots.
The Huskies were looking for a 12-0 non-conference record in advance of their Pac-12 opener Jan. 2 at California. That would have been their best start since 1946-47 and the best start under Romar. But the Huskies couldn’t defend the 3-ball in the second half and also couldn’t protect a five-point lead of 57-52 after two Andrew Andrews free throws with 3:41 remaining.
“This looked like last year’s team at times,” Romar added. “We have to come out and be prepared to go to war in the Bay Area.”
The Huskies raced to a 17-7 lead midway through the first half, led 21-9 with nine minutes left and had a 35-26 lead at halftime. Washington still led 50-40 with 8:58 left, when Stony Brook mounted its comeback.
UW led 57-54 with 1:04 to play, but Williams-Goss missed a floater in the lane and Purifoy converted his 3-pointer on the other end.
The Seawolves, led by Jameel Warney’s 15 points and Mitchell’s 12, closed out with free throws.
Williams-Goss had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists, and center Robert Upshaw 10 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and four blocks off the bench. But Upshaw took an ill-advised shot with a minute to play that caromed off the side of the backboard.
The Huskies had a horrendous shooting night, making only 34.3 percent, including 3-for-10 from 3-point range. Stony Brook went 9-for-18 beyond the arc.
Shawn Kemp Jr. (six points, three rebounds) and Jernard Jerreau (three points) added virtually nothing to Washington’s offense, although Jerreau did contribute 10 rebounds. Andrews scored eight points, but missed nine of his 12 shots.
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