Washington Uses Big Second Half Run to Down Arizona State
The Washington basketball team used an 18-3 scoring run in the second half to pull away from Arizona State on Thursday night and earn an 82-67 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.
After graduate forward Keion Brooks Jr. picked up his third foul with 11 minutes left, the former Kentucky standout made UW coach Mike Hopkins' decision to leave him in the game pay off seconds later.
The 6-foot-7 veteran knocked down a 3-pointer at the 11:10 mark in the second half to give the team a 52-50 lead, and the Huskies never trailed again.
Brooks finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor and added 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler, the other former UK star for the UW, hit one of his career-high five 3-pointers during the Huskies 18-3 scoring run, and finished with a season-high 24 points to lead all scorers.
The Huskies (10-6, 2-3) saw the reemergence of senior center Braxton Meah, who hauled down a career-high 14 rebounds and added 10 points in 32 minutes of action.
The 7-foot-1 Meah scored 10 or more points just once prior to the game against ASU, picking up 14 against UC San Diego in late November. The former Fresno State transfer hadn't picked up more than 7 rebounds in a game this season before doubling that number on Thursday night.
Portland State transfer Moses Wood knocked down his final 3-pointer of the game with 2:14 remaining to push the UW lead to 79-61. The 6-foot-8 forward hit 4 of 10 from deep to give him 15 points on the night.
UW came into the game against ASU hoping to build off its first win in Pac-12 play over Oregon State the previous Thursday. Despite forcing 15 turnovers, the Sun Devils couldn't capitalize.
Hitting a season-high 13 3-pointers proved to be the difference for the Huskies in earning their second conference win. ASU made just 4 of 17 from deep and couldn't keep up with the UW as the second half wound down.
Senior center Franck Kepnang missed his sixth consecutive game in recovery from a knee injury suffered Dec. 17 against Seattle University.
Washington returns to the court Sunday afternoon for the first of three road games against UCLA at 4 p.m. in Los Angeles.
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