Huskies Overcome Doldrums, 9-Point Deficit to Beat Cal

A Washington-California basketball game was a tough sell in the first place. A pair of second-division Pac-12 teams basically playing out their schedules. Pandemic concerns. A gym barely half full.

Amid all of these built-in obstacles, the Huskies still managed to overcome their own listlessness on their home floor, push back on a nine-point deficit in the second half and regroup for a 64-55 victory on Wednesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.

They found just the right amount of energy when needed.

They regained their wind when a sharp elbow left one of their own gasping.

On a difficult evening, the Huskies (7-7 overall, 2-2 Pac-12) came away satisfied with their response to everything.

After trailing for more than 20 minutes, Terrell Brown dropped in a pair of free throws for a 52-51 lead with 6:35 to play.

A minute later, P.J. Fuller took an elbow in the ribs from California's Kuany Kuany, which was deemed a flagrant foul. The junior guard gathered himself and responded with a pair of free throws for a three-point edge with 5:22 remaining.

The next time up the court, Brown drove hard to the basket, spun, stopped and left a Bears defender prone on the floor. The once sedate crowd roared as the senior guard rattled in a short jumper for a 56-51 advantage.

The Huskies weren't quite done with putting an exclamation mark on this one.

Standing in front of the UW bench, Fuller launched a 3-pointer with plenty of arc on it that sailed through the net. He raised his fist and arena roared once more as the home team now led 59-51 and Cal was done.

The Huskies, going on a 15-0 run, had taken the Golden Bears' best shot and shook it off.

Cal (9-8, 2-4), coached by former Husky assistant coach Mark Fox, made it a game by doing what everyone feels is necessary now.

They shut down Brown, the Pac-12's leading scorer, throughout the opening half, sending everyone but the team manager after him and limiting him to 3 points on a free throw and a late lay-in.

As is often the case, though, the crafty guard from Seattle found a way around this and scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, matching his average the hard way.

"He's a ballplayer and he wants to win," UW coach Mike Hopkins said. "Our team knows he has to score in certain situations. He's all about winning."

The Huskies also received a workmanlike effort from 6-foot-11 junior center Nate Roberts, who struggles offensively but supplied a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds. Not regarded as much of a shooter, he surprised everyone and dropped in 6 of 7 free throws.

"It was his best game," Hopkins said. "He was physical."

Still, it took some effort from the Huskies to right things. They trailed 36-27 and 38-29 early in the second half before whittling down the score.

While the UW didn't shoot well, hitting just 4 of 19 3-pointers, these guys continued to steal the ball at an accelerated rate, coming up with 14 more. With Roberts exerting himself inside, they won the rebound battle 32-23, another rarity.

The Huskies can now savor this one for three days before hosting Stanford on Saturday afternoon.

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