University of Washington
15-16,5-13Pac-12
Arizona
20-11,10-8Pac-12
McDaniels, Stewart Propel Washington Past Arizona, 69-63
March 07, 2020 | Men's Basketball
Freshman Jaden McDaniels scored 20 points and classmate Isaiah Stewart added 16 as the Huskies finished the Pac-12 regular season with a flourish in a 69-63 victory over Arizona on Saturday night.
Jamal Bey had 12 points and the Huskies (15-16, 5-13) limited Arizona to 35.1 shooting to complete a two-game sweep of the Arizona trip. They had lost their first seven Pac-12 road games.
"The last two games we've made big plays down the stretch," Washington coach Mike Hopkins said. "I thought our defense was the best defense I've seen in a long time. We were taking away angles. We're making our foul shots. That's how you close out games. Before in the close games we weren't doing those things."
Dylan Smith had 19 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers, Zeke Nnaji had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Nico Mannion had 11 points for the Wildcats (20-11, 10-8), who lost three of their last four to fall out of contention for one of four first-round byes in the Pac-12 tournament.
Washington went 8:06 without a field goal late in the second half but made nine free throws to maintain the lead before Bey and McDaniels made back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Huskies in front 65-55 with 2:45 left.
Smith made all six of of his 3-pointers in the second half. His sixth made it 65-59 with 35.6 seconds remaining before Bey made four free throws to ice it.
"A game like today is what makes March Madness so great, because anything can happen," Hopkins said.
Arizona's last lead was at 6-4.
"We knew that we were in for a fight and, and we were," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Our performance tonight was poor. We weren't ready to play. We didn't run as fast jump as high, struggled to get back defensively."
BIG PICTURE
Washington: The Huskies will enter the Pac-12 tournament on a roll after winning three of their last four games following a nine-game losing streak. The Huskies picked up their first league road win at Arizona State on Thursday.
ON TO VEGAS
Washington planned to fly directly to Las Vegas from Tucson as a precaution against the coronavirus, which has hit the Northwest hard. Washington has cancelled all in-person classes from Monday until the end of the winter quarter March 20.
"I think the university and everybody is showing great leadership in terms of the decisions that they're making," Hopkins said.
UP NEXT
Arizona and Washington will play each other in the first found of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Arizona is the fifth seed and Washington is the 12th.
