Moses Wood Beats California at the Buzzer with 3-Pointer
Knock on Wood, it went in.
Moses Wood, who had made just 1-of-7 attempts from 3-point range before the final UW possession, drained a deep corner shot at the buzzer to lift the Huskies to a 77-75 victory over the California Bears on Thursday night in Berkeley.
The former Portland and UNLV sharpshooter received a kick-out pass from fellow forward Keion Brooks Jr. and sank the 3-pointer under heavy guard to help his team earn its first Pac-12 road win.
Wood's heroics enabled the Huskies to bounce back after blowing an 11-point lead and sent his teammates scrambling onto the floor to celebrate with him. The game-winner also was just his second make in 10 shots for the night as he finished with 13 points, most coming from the free-throw line.
Brooks, who scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, played more of a complimentary role in the final 20 minutes of the game.
The UW (11-7, 3-4) led 62-55 with just over 10 minutes remaining after graduate point guard Sahvir Wheeler made his third and final 3-pointer. Wheeler finished with 13 points.
From there, Huskies coach Mike Hopkins watched his team miss 11 of 13 shots from the floor while the Golden Bears went on a 16-5 scoring run and eventually built a 75-71 lead with 31 seconds remaining.
However, the UW received a big boost from Fresno State transfer Anthony Holland, who knocked down a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to cut the UW deficit to 75-74 before Wood's game-winner sealed the game.
Holland finished with a season-high 14 points off the bench, including hitting 4-of-9 shots from 3-point range.
To be in position to win late, the Huskies needed UW senior center Braxton Meah had to have another solid outing playing in place of injured senior Franck Kepnang, who missed his eighth consecutive game while recovering from a knee injury.
The 7-foot-1 Meah hit 3 of 3 key free throws to finish with 7 points and pulled down 4 rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
Washington wraps up its three-game road trip on Saturday at Stanford.
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