Despite a full complement of players at their disposal and a big lift from Andrew Andrews and Nigel Williams-Goss, the Huskies lost 71-69 to No. 6 seed Stanford after Chasson Randle drained a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left.
LAS VEGAS – Chasson Randle did it again.
The sharp-shooting guard has thwarted the Huskies during his four-year Stanford career and Wednesday night he ended Washington’s season in dramatic fashion.
“It’s nothing against Washington or anything like that, they have tremendous players and I love playing against them,” Randle said after draining a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left to beat the Huskies 71-69 in the first-round of the Pac-12 tournament. “I’m just glad I made the shot.”
With 3:25 remaining, the No. 11 seed Washington men’s basketball team held a five-point lead and seemed poised to upset sixth-seeded Stanford.
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With 30 seconds left, the Huskies were up by a point and had possession when they replaced senior forward Shawn Kemp Jr. with Dan Kingma.
The Cardinal had to foul and it sent the freshman walk-on, a 66.7 percent free-throw shooter, to the line. He missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw situation, which gave Stanford an opening.
“No game comes down to one play,” Nigel Williams-Goss said. “We all know that. It’s tons of plays throughout the game that add up to a loss. We could have done a better job on the defensive glass. We had some turnovers in the second half. It’s not one play and by no means did it come down to those free throws.”
On the ensuing possession, Stanford forward Rosco Allen missed a long jumper, but the Huskies failed to collect the rebound and during the scramble Marcus Allen passed the ball to Randle.
“He’s one of the last guys we want to see with an open look,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Randle calmly drained the three-pointer with 2.4 seconds left. Andrews’ rebuttal at the buzzer hit the back of the rim and the Huskies dropped a heartbreaker at MGM Grand Arena.
“If we get that rebound we probably end up winning the game,” Andrews said. “It ended up biting us in the butt.”
It was the third straight loss to Stanford, which beat Washington in overtime 68-60 after Williams-Goss missed a free throw in the final seconds that could have sealed the game and Randle sank a jumper to force the extra possession.
“There is not another walk-on stepping up in this tournament the way he did,” Williams-Goss said. “Dan is a heckuva player. I told him like I did after I missed my free throws, I just got back in the gym and made 100 free throws every day after that to let it not happen again.”
The Huskies figured once they finally got healthy — something they hadn’t been the past two months — they could beat anyone in the Pac-12.
They put that belief to the test against the Cardinal.
Senior forward Shawn Kemp Jr. returned from a four-game, injury-induced layoff and freshman forward Donaven Dorsey played for the first time after missing the past two games, which gave UW more options than it had when they lost 10 of the final 12 regular-season games.
Despite a full complement of players, the Huskies relied heavily on Andrews, who scored 22 points, and Williams-Goss,s who finished with 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
However, it wasn’t enough to overcome Stanford’s multi-pronged attack led by Stefan Nastic, who had 21 points. Anthony Brown tallied 16 and Reid Travis 14.
Randle had just seven points before his final shot.
Not until did the very end did either team gain control of a seesaw game that included 20 lead changes and eight ties. Momentum swung on seemingly every possession.
If the Pac-12 doled out first-half MVP awards, then Kingma would have picked up the honors.
He entered the game with 9:49 left in the half and provided a scoring punch off the bench for UW. He connected on 3 of 4 shots, all three-pointers, and led the Huskies with nine points going into the break.
The score was tied 32-32 at halftime and no team led by more than five points after the break.
Stanford (19-12) plays No. 3 Utah (23-7) at 8:40 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, barring an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational, Washington (16-15) finishes the season for the second straight year on the first day of the conference tournament.
It’s the third time in the past four years that the Huskies have bowed out in the opener. More important, Washington’s NCAA tournament drought extends to four years.
But Washington has assembled a stellar recruiting class that includes Rainier Beach star Dejounte Murray, Eastside Catholic standout Matisse Thybulle, top-50 recruit Marquese Chriss from Elk Grove, Calif, former Rainier Beach star David Crisp, junior-college center Malik Dime and big man Devenir Duruisseau.
The Huskies lose guard Mike Anderson and Kemp.
Williams-Goss briefly considered entering the NBA draft last year and the second-team all-Pac-12 sophomore guard will likely consider his pro prospects again. The NBA deadline to declare for the draft is April 26.
Andrews, who redshirted the 2011-12 season, said he’ll return next season.
If everyone else comes back, Washington will have the NCAA limit of 13 players on the roster.
“Once I move forward, I’m not looking back, that’s for sure,” Romar said. “But 20 mintues after the game, I haven’t looked forward yet. I’m still reflecting on this game right now.
“When we move forward, we’re going to really move forward.”