Huskies Push Arizona for 32 Minutes Before Giving In
Terrell Brown couldn't do it all by himself, but he tried just the same.
On Monday night, the University of Washington guard and former Arizona player kept his new team as close to his old one as long as he could, before the Huskies finally dropped back and took a 95-79 defeat on the chin at McKale Center In Tucson.
Brown, the always offensive-minded 6-foot-3 senior guard from Seattle, scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the opening half to help keep things interesting in the Huskies' Pac-12 opener.
Oh, but he could have used some help, especially inside, against the much taller and more talented Wildcats (12-1 overall, 2-0 conference), now coached by former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd.
With 7:45 left to play, the Huskies (5-6, 0-1) trailed just 72-67 after Emmitt Matthews Jr. rattled in a 3-pointer, but they got no closer.
Arizona finally put together a numbing 19-5 run, went up by as many as 19 and this one was over.
While the effort was commendable by the Huskies, this still marked their 40th loss in the past 54 outings for coach Mike Hopkins over parts of three seasons.
Brown, who started 9 games for the Wildcats the previous season before returning home to the UW, cleverly navigated his way through his former teammates for a variety of hard drives to the rim, deft lobs, high bank shots and short jumpers.
He scored 11 of his team's final 13 points to close the opening half, leaving the Huskies trailing 49-41 at intermission and feeling pretty good about themselves at a place where blowouts are commonplace.
After hitting 8 of his first 11 shots in that opening half, Brown finished 10-for-22 from the floor as Arizona double-teamed him, got physical in knocking him around and effectively slowed him some.
Doing it his way, he attempted just a pair of 3-pointers that didn't drop. He also chipped in 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. Yet Brown often was like a man on a deserted island,
Only Matthews offered much offensive help among the other starters, supplying 16 points. Otherwise, Jamal Bey had 9, Daejon Davis 5 and Nate Roberts 0.
Meantime, Arizona put three starters on the floor who scored 20 or more, led by freshman guard Benedict Mathurin's 27 and backed by 7-foot-1 junior center Christian Koloko's 22 and sophomore guard Kerr Kriisa's 21.
The Huskies won the turnover battle by a wide margin, committing just 6 to the Wildcats' 21, but lost the rebound battle 45-31.
In an effort to slow the Wildcats' front line, the UW turned to 7-foot-5 Riley Sorn, who played for the second time this season stayed on the floor for 18 minutes. He scored 6 points on 3-for-4 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds, which as a lot more than the starter. Roberts drew just 6 minutes before sitting out because he was ineffective and in foul trouble.
Playing three times in seven nights, the Huskies made up a postponed game from a month earlier when COVID swept through the UW roster. They play at Utah on Thursday and at Colorado on Sunday.
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