Huskies End Pac-12 Losing Streak With Win Over Oregon State
Needing a win to stay relative in the Pac-12 and halt a three-game losing streak, the Washington basketball team proved it can falter early but still come out on top.
Forward Keion Brooks Jr. took charge in the second half, scoring 16 of his game-high 26 points in the final 20 minutes to lift the Huskies to a 79-72 victory over Oregon State on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
The 6-foot-7 former Kentucky standout connected on 9 of 12 shots from the field and dropped in a crucial 7 of 8 free throws and added 5 rebounds in 34 minutes.
"In the second half, Brooks played as good as he's played with the way that he attacked the basket," UW coach Mike Hopkins said after the game. "I was really, really happy with his performance."
The UW (9-6 overall, 1-3 Pac-12) used a 16-0 scoring run to separate from Oregon State in the first half and entered halftime with a 38-33 lead.
After Fresno State transfer guard Anthony Holland hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 21 with 9:32 remaining before intermission, the UW never trailed again.
Hopkins noted the 6-foot-5 graduate made an impact on both ends of the floor, getting stops defensive and converting timely shots on the offensive end, to give the team a spark of the bench.
The Huskies stretched its lead to 71-59 with 3:36 remaining, its largest advantage of the game, before the Beavers (9-6 overall, 1-3 Pac-12) pulled within the final margin.
OSU guard Jordan Pope, who hit three 3-pointers in the first 9 minutes and scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Beavers, tried his best to pull off a late comeback with back-to-back 3s to cut the UW lead to 75-71 with 35 seconds left.
Fortunately for Huskies, Pope fouled Koren Johnson after his second 3-pointer. The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard — one of four UW players to finish in double figures — added two of his final 10 points from the free-throw line with 26 seconds remaining.
Forward Moses Wood added two more free throws with 18 seconds left to seal a seven-point victory. In total, the UW made a season-high 29 of 33 shots from the line while holding OSU to just 15 free-throw attempts in the game.
UW senior center Franck Kepnang missed his fifth consecutive game recovering from a knee injury suffered in the second half against Seattle University on Dec. 17.
In place of the 6-foot-10 big-man, junior forward Wilhelm Breidenbach added 11 points and 8 rebounds in the post for the Huskies while playing a season-high 28 minutes.
"He's just a fighter," Hopkins said of Breidenbach, likening his size mismatch in the paint to that of a light-heavyweight going against a heavyweight.
"But he gets you with intelligence. He gets you with footwork. He gets you with effort, and that's very infectious. That's what we kind of lost with Franck."
Transfer point guard Sahvir Wheeler scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting to round out the scoring for UW.
Washington closes out its three-game homestand on Thursday at 8 p.m. by hosting Arizona State.
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