Romello White scored 17 points, Luguentz Dort added 15 and Arizona State handed Washington its first Pac-12 loss, 75-63 on Saturday night.
The Sun Devils (16-7, 7-4 Pac-12) faced what felt like a must-win game after a disheartening loss to Washington State on Thursday night. They played with more energy and were better at both ends of the floor against the first-place Huskies, building an 18-point lead before holding off a late Washington charge.
Arizona State shot 62 percent against the Pac-12’s leader in field-goal percentage defense to overcome 24 turnovers and end Washington’s 12-game winning streak.
White missed the second half of Thursday’s game with a leg injury, but showed no ill effects against Washington. He went 8 for 9 from the floor, helping the Sun Devils outscore Washington 42-20 in the paint.
Washington (19-5, 10-1) clicked on all cylinders in a win against Arizona on Thursday, but sputtered through most of the road trip’s second game.
Noah Dickerson had 18 points and David Crisp 17 for lead Washington, which shot 37 percent.
The Huskies moved a step closer to the Pac-12 regular-season title with a 67-60 win in Tucson on Thursday despite several players fighting illnesses.
Arizona State’s NCAA Tournament resume took a hit the same night in an embarrassing loss to Washington State, a team that had no road wins and the Pac-12’s second-worst record.
The Sun Devils fell into a big early hole and never had a chance to recover thanks to poor perimeter shooting. Arizona State went 3 for 28 from the 3-point arc.
Arizona State had no trouble getting shots to fall early against Washington, going 14 of 24 in the first half. The Sun Devils were much better defensively, too, holding the Huskies without a field goal for nearly eight minutes and 3-of-16 shooting from 3 in the first half.
Arizona State’s only first-half problem: turnovers. The Sun Devils had 13, seven on steals by the Huskies.
The Sun Devils kept making shots to open the second half and Huskies kept missing. Huskies coach Mike Hopkins called a timeout less than a minute into the half, pounding his chest and yelling “Show some heart!” after no one boxed out White on a putback.
Washington still couldn’t put up much of a fight against the energized Sun Devils, who used a 9-0 run to push the lead to 50-32.
Washington went on a 10-0 run to get within 54-47 with about six minutes left, but Arizona State wouldn’t let the Huskies any closer to pull out a much-needed win.
BIG PICTURE
The Huskies are still in control of the Pac-12 race, but will have to regroup after a dud in the desert.
UP NEXT
Washington plays at Washington State on Saturday.
–AP
** This release courtesy of UW Athletic Communications
