Game recap: Huskies 89, Sun Devils 85

Takeaway

Freshman Matisse Thybulle knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:13 and Andrew Andrews offset two subsequent gaffes with six free throws as Washington held off a late run by Arizona State for an 89-85 win Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe (box). The Huskies have taken five in a row from the Sun Devils in Tempe dating to 2010-11, but needed everything Thybulle and Andrews had to avoid blowing a 10-point, last-minute lead.

Essential moment

The Huskies appeared to have the game locked when Thybulle buried a 3-pointer for a 79-70 lead with 1:13 to play. But they needed another 3-ball from Thybulle and the free throws were needed because ASU scored on a dunk by Obinna Oleka, who stole the ball from Andrews on an in-bounds play, and a 3-pointer by Willie Atwood after Andrews lost the ball out of bounds.

Noteworthy

Andrews had 30 points and 12 assists, becoming the first UW player to score at least 30 and record as many as 12 assists in the same game. He had 18 points in the first half while coming off a poor, nine-point performance in a loss to Arizona Thursday. Andrews, the Pac-12’s leading scorer (20.8), has  30 or more points in four games this season and in five games during his career . . . Freshman Dejounte Murray had 19 points and nine rebounds . . . The Huskies played most of the game in foul trouble. Freshman Marquese Chriss collected three early, four by halftime and was not a factor, scoring four points. Malik Dime also fouled out as Washington committed 25 personals . . . Washington took 16 free throws to Arizona State’s 29 . . . Freshman Dominic Green came off the bench bury a 3-ball for a 72-67 UW lead with 4:03 to play and later hit a free throw . . . After allowing 93 points per game in their first four conference contests, the Huskies improved to 12-5, 4-1 and are 2-1 on the road. The Huskies are 22-6 against Arizona State under Lorenzo Romar.

Words

“Thank goodness it worked out tonight. This was a very pivotal win in this conference race. This gives us a lot of momentum going back home. For our guys to come out and play like we did after what happened in Tucson, well, we grew up another notch this weekend.” — Romar.

“We did a little bit of soul searching after the loss (99-67 to Arizona) in Tucson and we came out with a lot more energy tonight. I just tried to come out and give our team a spark because that’s what gets us going. Coach (Romar) emphasized our energy and that turned out pretty well for us” — Andrews.

Next

The Huskies return to Alaska Airlines Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. Washington hosts Utah Sunday, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m.