Huskies Rally From 11 Down to Upset No. 7 Gonzaga 78-73
Sending the sellout crowd spilling onto the floor, the Washington basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit and upset seventh-ranked Gonzaga 78-73 on Saturday night at Alaska Airlines Arena — the first time the Mike Hopkins-coached Huskies had between the Zags in five outings.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler's layin with 3:41 remaining put the UW (6-3) ahead for good at 72-70 and the Zags (7-2) couldn't respond.
Five UW players scored in double figures, topped by forward Keion Brooks with 17, Wheeler with 16, center Franck Kepnang with 14, forward Moses Wood with 12 and Koren Johnson who came off the bench with 11.
"We took their best punch," Brooks said. "They're a good offensive team and they go on runs. But every time they went on a run, we responded. It was like a heavyweight fight, blow for blow. We didn't let them knock us out."
Johnson's two free throws with 1:08 left gave the Huskies a 74-70 cushion, Brooks added four free throws and Graham Ike's three-point play was the only answer for the Zags.
"KJ has been a difference-maker in a lot of games for us," Hopkins said of Johnson. "He came in (and gave us) great energy defensively. (When) he gets out in transition he's very disruptive. When he's making his shot, it changes everything."
The UW trailed by 11 twice in the second half, at 57-46 and 59-48, but the Huskies, with the large crowd roaring with every play, wouldn't back off.
The 6-foot-7 Brooks played all but a minute against Gonzaga, chipped in a team-high rebounds with 8,
Fellow Kentucky transfer Wheeler, continually driving the lane against the Zags, scored six of the UW's final 12 points. He scored his 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman, a local player from Eastside Catholic High School, made the most of his return to Seattle by scoring 15 points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line. He finished with 17 as the Huskies were able to slow him down.
Gonzaga junior forward Graham Ike led all scorers with 18 points, 10 of which came in the first half.
UW matched Gonzaga point for point in the paint midway through the second half, with each team scoring 28 points
Kepnang made his presence felt early for the Huskies. The 6-foot-11 senior blocked a jumper by Gonzaga forward Anton Watson and put home a two-handed dunk early in the game to show the UW wouldn't be backing down.
"I felt like Patrick Ewing was playing again," Hopkins said of Kepnang's dominant 5-block performance, four of which came in the second half.
The Bulldogs stretched the lead to nine with just under two minutes to go before halftime before Wheeler did his best Isaiah Thomas step-back jumper impression to cut the Huskies deficit to 48-42 at intermission.
Wood, the 6-foot-8 Portland transfer, converted a crucial 3-pointer with 12:09 to go in the game to cut the Husky deficit to 61-57 and get the Zags off balance. Wood finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting in 37 minutes of action.
UW went on a brief run to take the first lead of the second half with under four minutes remaining and never looked back.
"This group has been great because they believe," Hopkins added. "They work hard. We practiced our rebounding. We rebounded the ball better. We did not execute to the level that we needed to."
Hopkins cited 19 turnovers — 10 of which came in the second half — as one of the main focal points for the team to improve on next game against Seattle University on Nov. 19.
For one special Saturday night, Hopkins and the team will enjoy the first victory over Gonzaga since Dec. 4, 2005, the only previous win for the Huskies against the Bulldogs in program history.
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