House of Horrors: Pauley Makes Huskies Pay Once More

Pauley Pavilion didn't hammer the University of Washington basketball team, didn't shove those guys out the door and slam it, which is usually the case.

No, the historic venue chose to tease the Huskies to the end -- and then took everything away from them.

Danny Sprinkle's team led most of the opening half and at halftime, and even got UCLA in serious foul trouble midway through the second half and still couldn't win in Westwood, going down to a 77-73 defeat.

In 60 seasons, the UW (12-12 overall, 4-9) has won only six times, and not in the past decade, in the house that Johnny Wooden built. This was simply added torment.

"We don't have a lot of margin for error to win right now," Sprinkle said.

Sophomore guard Wesley Yates III topped the Huskies with 21 points, most coming in the opening half. UCLA was led by sophomore guard Tyler Perry's game-high 23 points and senior forward Tyler Bilodeau added 19..

The Huskies and the Bruins tangle inside at Pauley Pavilion. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Like they did against Iowa at midweek, the Huskies let all of their hard work go to waste in the second half as UCLA went ahead for good by breaking a 45-all tie when forward Eric Dailey Jr. raced in for a fast-break lay-in following a strip of the Huskies' Hannes Steinbach near midcourt.

The Bruins (17-7, 9-4) even had to pull big men Bilodeau and Xavier Booker after each drew four fouls on consecutive possessions at the 10-minute mark, with the latter call leading to a technical foul on UCLA coach Mick Cronin.

Yet typical of this one, the UW couldn't capitalize. Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo missed both free throws, and they weren't even close, with the Huskies trailing 54-53. Perry next hit a 3-pointer for the Bruins and it was opportunity missed.

"That was a huge five-point swing," Sprinkle said.

The UW jumped off to another fast start, with Yates taking the initiative and dropping in a dozen points over the first five and a half minutes. He connected on 5 of his first 7 attempts, including a pair from 3-point range. He was healthy and tough to guard.

Twelve minutes into it, the Huskies built heir largest lead of the half at 20-12 when sophomore forward Lathan Sommerville, getting his first extended minutes since being injured, hit a short jumper.

Then, as it does with this team, reality set in again.

Franck Kepnang (11) grabs a rebound at Pauley Pavilion for the Huskies. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

UCLA began switching up its defenses, which seemed to baffle the Huskies and slow them down on offense considerably.

At their worst moment, Diallo picked up his dribble behind the 3-point line and couldn't find anyone to pass to and was called for a five-second violation. He should have shot it.

Using a 13-3 run, the Bruins kept pushing until they grabbed their first lead at 25-23 on Trent Perry's 3-pointer with 6:15 remaining in the opening half.

Yet the UW pushed back, reclaimed the lead and took a 34-30 advantage at the break.

Pauley, however, just wasnt going to let an upset happen.

The Huskies return home to face Penn State (10-13 overall, 1-11 Big Ten), which is tied for last place with Oregon (8-15, 1-11) and what would appear to be a highly winnable game.

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