Playing their fourth OT this season, the Huskies rally from a 13-point deficit and prevailed in a game that included a combined 60 fouls, 75 free throws and five player disqualifications.
Up three points in the final seconds of regulation, Lorenzo Romar thought about instructing the Huskies to intentionally foul the Sun Devils to prevent a game-tying shot.
The Washington men’s basketball coach decided too much time was on the clock, and Arizona State’s Kodi Justice drained a step-back three-pointer that banked off the glass and into the net with 16 seconds left to force overtime.
In the extra period, Dejounte Murray took over early and Andrew Andrews hit a couple of big baskets for the Huskies, who ran away from the Sun Devils for a 95-83 win Wednesday in front of 6,533 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Washington prevailed in a game that included several twists and turns, a combined 60 fouls, 75 free throws and five player disqualifications.
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Playing their fourth overtime this season, the Huskies outscored ASU 17-5 in the extra period.
“Maybe they wore down a little bit,” Romar said. “A lot of their guys had fouled out. They didn’t have anybody to go to down the stretch and we still had virtually (all) starters in the game that were relatively fresh.”
ASU coach Bobby Hurley added: “We just didn’t have their size. … They are just bigger and more athletic than we were at that point. The guys played heavy minutes that were in there. We just didn’t have anything more to offer.”
The Sun Devils had no one who could stay in front of Murray or prevent the 6-foot-4½ guard from getting to the rim.
“I just went out and do what I do,” said Murray, who fouled out in overtime after tallying a career-high 34 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Murray scored the first four points for UW in overtime before collecting his fifth foul and going to the bench.
That’s when the Huskies turned to senior guard Andrews to put the game away. He missed his first 11 shots from the field before draining a three-pointer that put UW up 87-80.
On the Huskies’ next possession, Andrews made a jumper in the lane. He finished with 13 points on 2-for-13 shooting. He also made 8 of 11 free throws.
Freshman forward Marquese Chriss recovered from a foul-prone first half in which he played just one minute and finished with 19 points. Matisse Thybulle scored 10.
“I’ve said this early in the year that you’re not going to be able to stop both of us,” Andrews said when asked about Murray. “That’s just not going to happen. Either I’m going to have 30 or he’s going to have 30.
“Once he gets going, I just run the same play, to be honest. Keep letting him make plays until they want to stop it. And if they don’t want to stop it, he can have big games.”
For a UW team that struggles to hold on to big second-half leads comes the biggest challenge of all: maintaining – or even improving – its spot in the Pac-12 during the second half of conference play.
It will be a story with NCAA tournament implications that unfolds over the next five weeks in a league where one game separates the top five teams in the standings.
On Wednesday, the Huskies flipped the script on their recent performances.
This time they started slowly, trailed 44-32 at halftime and rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half.
With Murray leading the way, Washington outscored ASU 46-34 in the second half. Still, the Sun Devils didn’t go away easily, which was reminiscent of their previous meeting this season – an 89-85 UW win.
Washington claimed sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 at 7-3. The Huskies improved to 15-7 overall.
Washington swept the regular-season series from Arizona State (12-11, 2-8).
The Sun Devils received 18 points from sophomore guard Tra Holder and had five players in double figures.
Note
• Despite a sore ankle, Noah Dickerson made his 22nd straight UW start. He suffered the injury last week at UCLA and played just 16 minutes Saturday at USC.