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Inside The Huskies

It was Cold-blooded! Thomas Pac-10 Game-winner Came 10 Years Ago

Memory of UW guard's heroics helps dull the pain of terrible season.
Dan Raley|
It was Cold-blooded! Thomas Pac-10 Game-winner Came 10 Years Ago
It was Cold-blooded! Thomas Pac-10 Game-winner Came 10 Years Ago

One of the lowest moments in University of Washington basketball history gleefully has been overshadowed this week by one of the most magnificent.

Two days after the Mike Hopkins' team finished as the second-worst in program annals at 5-21, it was time to salute the 10-year anniversary of Isaiah Thomas' amazing Pac-10 tournament buzzer-beater. 

Even Thomas weighed in from afar, noting on social media, "When I was a kid, I used to dream about hitting a buzzer-beater on the biggest stage. Then this happened."

"Then" was a courageous, pressure-packed shot from left of the key, just inside the 3-point line, that swished through and electrified a Staples Center crowd in Los Angeles.

Against Arizona in the championship game, the Huskies inbounded the ball in overtime in a game tied at 75.

Eighteen seconds remained.

Thomas brought the ball up the floor, all along sizing up the situation in front of him. 

The little guard raised a hand and then crouched down and made his move.

Thomas did a crossover dribble to get his opponent on his heels, then drove the guy to the left, planted and fell back.

His arching shot came down in a torrent, rushing through the net as the buzzer sounded.

Final score: Washington 77, Arizona 75.

UW radio broadcaster Bob Rondeau was nearly hoarse as he excitedly shared the moment with his listeners.  

"The purple people here are going absolutely nuts!" he roared.

Meantime, the CBS TV crew led by Gus Johnson similarly was in a state of euphoria for having the game end on such a heroic shot.

"Cold-blooded!" Johnson yelled out, forever making that a Husky catch phrase.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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