University of Washington
American University-PR Puerto Rico Holiday Classic
Bender Nets 100th Win at UW with 67-47 Victory over American-Puerto Rico
December 20, 2000 | Men's Basketball
The eighth-year UW coach, whose team is in the midst of a 7,568-mile road trip, became the fourth individual to reach the 100-win plateau with the Huskies who defeated host American University-Puerto Rico 67-47 on Wednesday in a first-round Puerto Rico Holiday Classic matchup at the Guerra Sports Complex.
"The most important number I was thinking about was five, to get our fifth victory. I'm pleased that the 100th came with us improving to 5-3," said Bender whose 100 wins rank fourth among all-time Washington coaches. He trails only Hec Edmundson (488), Marv Harshman (246) and Tippy Dye (156).
Senior forward Thalo Green scored a career-high 20 points for the Huskies. He hit 7-of-9 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt.
"I had open shots and there were a lot of good passes made," said Green who became the first UW player to register a 20-point game this season.
Washington scored the game's first nine points en route to a 35-23 halftime advantage.
The Huskies replicated that feat, opening the second half with nine unanswered points. Green capped the run with a hook shot and free throw, pushing the margin to 44-23 with 17:00 left in the game.
The Pirates rallied to trim the deficit to 48-40 on a free throw by Ivan Rios with 9:48 remaining. Sparking the rally was a full-court press that forced 11 Husky turnovers during a six-minute span.
"There were some spurts where we played hard and played intense defense, but there was a stretch in the second half where we lost focus on what we were trying to do and gave them a chance to get back into the game," Green explained. "We had to pick it back up down there towards the stretch and that's something we shouldn't have had to do."
Washington responded to American's surge with a 13-3 run that was capped by a layin by senior forward Greg Clark at 6:09 that extended the lead to a comfortable 60-43.
Clark finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, all in the second half. He led a 45-27 rebounding advantage for the Huskies.
The UW defense limited American to 28-percent shooting from the field on 14-of-51 shooting. The Pirates missed all 11 of their 3-point attempts.
"I think we're playing a lot better defense night-in and night-out, but our offense has got to reward us," said Bender whose team finished with 21 turnovers. "We're pretty close to being a good basketball team, but our mental lapses at times and our inability to value the ball hurts our good defense."
Washington's leading scorer on the season, senior forward Will Perkins, compiled seven points and six rebounds in only 10 minutes. His playing time was intentionally limited by the coaching staff in an effort to help him recover from a virus that has kept him out of practice all week.
With his 100th win in the record books, Bender now faces a difficult task in pursuit of No. 101. The Huskies play undefeated and 17th-ranked Alabama (8-0) in the second round on Thursday at 3:30 Pacific Time.
"We got through the first round and now we move on to a really difficult challenge for us against the 17th-ranked team that is 8-0," said Bender. "They like to press, so we can't afford to turn the ball over like we did tonight."
Alabama retained its perfect record with a 64-56 win over Northern Iowa to set up the meeting with Washington. Cincinnati was a 74-65 winner over Youngstown State and Clemson beat Florida Atlantic 94-81 in the other first-round pairings.
