After blowing a 24-point lead but escaping with a victory against Arizona State on Thursday, coach Mike Hopkins and the Washington Huskies couldn’t find a way to overcome similar odds against the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats.
The Wildcats suffered a 77-74 upset at the hands of the No. 21 Washington State Cougars Thursday, but the projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament got back on track with a 91-75 victory over the Huskies. Washington moves to 15-13 on the season and 7-10 in Pac-12 play, while Arizona retained the top spot in the conference as it improved to 21-6 overall and 12-4 in conference play.
Arizona guard Caleb Love paced all scorers with 28 points and senior Oumar Ballo was dominant on the interior throughout the game, recording a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Huskies received a strong contribution off the bench from guards Koren Johnson and Nate Calmese, who added 17 and 15 points respectively, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Sahvir Wheeler struggled to get going for Washington, as the conference’s assists leader made just 2 of his 13 field goal attempts but could still add 6 assists.
Washington now has three regular-season games remaining before the Pac-12 tournament and will return to Seattle to take on the UCLA Bruins on Thursday.