The Washington Huskies are starting to make some noise as they aim for the Pac-12 Tournament next week. With a 65-57 victory over USC Wednesday night at Hec Ed, the Huskies have won three in a row, longest streak since they opened league play 4-0.
The Huskies (17-13, 9-8) are in a three-way tie for sixth with Arizona State and the Trojans. USC (14-16, 9-8) lost for the third time in its last five games.
“That’s an explosive offensive basketball team and I thought we did a pretty good job of being physical and defending them,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Dewayne Dedmon is a heck of a basketball player. Aside from him, I thought we did a pretty good job. We were patient offensively. We had five unforced turnovers early, and with the exception of a couple bad ones later, I thought we took care of the ball.
“Scott Suggs had his third consecutive really good basketball game. Jernard Jerreau came out and didn’t play like a freshman. Andrew Anrews had eight rebounds, five offensive. They gave us great minutes off the bench.
Leading 41-40 at the 11:28 mark, the Trojans were held scoreless over the next five minutes. Dedmon (18 points, 9-11 shooting) was benched with four fouls and watched Washington grab a 48-41 lead.
Following a Suggs three-ball, Dedmon re-entered and dunked a putback to shrink the lead to five. It was the closest the Trojans would get. In the final 5½ minutes, the Huskies hit three of five shots and hit all eight free-throw attempts.
Shooting only 36 percent from the field, Washington hauled in 48 rebounds – 19 on the offensive end. USC had 29.
After scoring 23 points Sunday in a win over Washington State, Suggs (18 points, 8-13 shooting) once again led all Husky scorers. C.J. Wilcox (11 points, 2-9 shooting) continued to struggle from the field. Six of his points came from the line, four in the final minute.
Jarreau’s 12 points helped the Washington bench outscore USC’s 23-4.
Washington concludes regular-season play at 11 a.m. Saturday against UCLA. The 23rd-ranked Bruins (22-8, 12-5) figure to be in a foul mood after falling to Washington State Wednesday night 73-61 in Pullman. The loss snapped the second-place Bruins’ 19-game win streak over the Cougars in Pullman dating to 1993.
The Cougs jumped out to a 19-2 lead that never dropped to less than six, ending a nine-game losing skid.