Every bit the trudge as forecasted against undermanned Arizona State, Washington rode Tony Wroten’s 22 points to win its second road game this season, 60-54, Thursday night in Tempe.
The Huskies, a poor free throw shooting team, hit 12 of their final 15 shots from the line to hold off the Sun Devils, who hung in despite he absence of Trent Lockett, their best player who missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury.
Wroten was dazzling, hitting nine of 12 field goal attempts against ASU’s stifling zone. Included was a highlight-show, down-the-lane dunk over ASU’s leading scorer, Jonathan Gilling, who fouled while getting posterized.
Wroten’s three-point play with the free throw gave Washington a 46-39 lead and took some momentum away from the Sun Devils, who never came closer than four points the rest of the way.
“Can you ever remember a game when a guard plays so many minutes and scores so many points against a zone and none of them came from outside?” said coach Lorenzo Romar. “On that dunk, I wished I was sitting in the stands (to enjoy it) instead of getting our next defense ready.
“Tony is pretty fearless, like Nate Robinson and Isaiah Thomas, except he’s seven or eight inches taller.”
The Huskies welcomed back C.J. Wilcox, who received s pre-game medical clearance after sitting out three games with a stress fracture. Wilcox, obviously rusty, played just 10 mintues and missed all three field goal attempts, but hit all four of his free throws row in the final 30 seconds to maintain UW’s control of the game.
Getting Wilcox some action was probably more important for the next game at Arizona Saturday in a nationally televised game. The Wildcats won big against Washington State Thursday night.
“He got in the game, he gave us some minutes, and he was a threat, as he showed hitting hitting those free throws down the stretch,” Romar said.
ASUs 2-3 matchup zone gave Washington trouble in the first half, after which the Huskies trailed 24-22 at the break. The Huskies missed all three trey attempts in the first half, and finished 1-for-8, which was Wroten’s cue to take over.
“Our good scorers, C.J. and Terrence (Ross), weren’t scoring as usual, so I tried to take up the slack,” said Wroten, who also had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two turnovers. “Every Pac-12 game is going to be tougher and tougher because of scouting. I just have to adjust and find the holes.”
“They have a very difficult match-up zone. But we kept trying to be patient. We were moving the ball and as the 35-second clock ran out, we had a lot of layups.”
Gilling, a 6-7 freshman forward from Denmark, led the Sun Devils with 20 points. Washington’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins scored four points, his first since joining the team following football, and fouled out in 16 minutes for the second game in a row. Center Aziz N’Diaye also fouled out, but not before getting five points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes.
9 Comments
Give me a freaking break! Sark is the reason ‘recruits gone wild’ took place in the Pac-12. He raided coaching staffs up and down the West Coast. All the coaches who had athletes poached by UW probably got a good laugh after reading this. I hardly think he should be beating the drum of recruiting etiquette 101.
You’re right in that Sark doesn’t see that his deeds perpetuated the problem. But no coach does. They’re too busy keeping their heads down to look up to see the insanity.
pot calling the kettle black here. too funny
Sark is the biggest scum/douche bag recruiter in the Pac-12. I hope he chokes in his own vomit.
There’s much competition for such condemnation. The desperation to win will force even the best to ends they never dreamed of.
Reading the comments from the Cal fans in this thread is very amusing. Thanks for the entertainment.
It’s a total mess and Sark is right on.
College football needs a stipulation that says if you announce, you have to sign on the spot.
An earlier signing date might help, but it also can create the the same problem earlier. It’s a tweak, not a solution.
I agree: Though college football is big, it’s not nearly as big or powerful as the right of free speech or the internet. There is nothing to be done. Since no one can change it, we must change ourselves and learn to live with it. I suggest Sarkisian write an informative essay to hand out to all of his potential recruits advising them to trust nothing they read on the internet. Then get on with life. The good of the internet far outweighs the bad. Nothing comes without a price.