Feb. 24, 2005
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) - Tre Simmons tied a career-high with 29 points, including 12 during a 4-minute span in the second half, and No. 14 Washington held off pesky Arizona State for a 90-82 victory Thursday night.
Nate Robinson added 21 points for Washington, eight in the final 5:20, punctuated by a dunk with 3 seconds left. Washington (22-4, 12-3 Pac-10) kept pace with Arizona in the Pac-10. The Huskies are 1.5 games behind the Wildcats and host Arizona on Saturday.
Arizona State's Ike Diogu, leading the Pac-10 in scoring and rebounding, had a game-high 31 points and 15 rebounds. He was 17-for-18 from the foul line.
Simmons left the court hobbling after diving for a loose ball in the first minute of the second half. He returned less than 2 minutes later and scored 12 points during a 14-5 Washington run that gave the Huskies its first double-digit lead of the game at 58-48.
But Washington could not shake the Sun Devils. Arizona State scored 10 of its next 19 points at the foul stripe and cut the lead to 69-67. Washington pushed the lead back to eight, but eight points from Diogu kept the Sun Devils close, trailing 83-80 with 1:20 left.
Robinson scored on a runner with 45 seconds left. On Arizona State's next possession, Tyrone Jackson was called for a charge, and Washington made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 26.5 seconds.
Will Conroy added 13 points and Bobby Jones had 12 for Washington. Kevin Kruger had 17 for Arizona State (18-10, 7-9 Pac-10), which lost its fourth straight to the Huskies.
Washington won its 21st straight home game and can complete its first undefeated home campaign since 1984 with a win Saturday. Washington's last home loss was Jan. 10, 2004, an 86-84 overtime loss to UCLA.
With wins in their final three games, the Huskies will clinch at least a share of the conference regular season title. Washington hasn't claimed a share of the Pac-10 regular season title since 1985 and have not won a conference title outright since winning the Pacific Coast Conference in 1953.
Washington was hoping to get some help from their cross-state rivals Thursday night, but Arizona held off Washington State 57-56 in overtime.
Washington led 44-41 at halftime on the strength of 54 percent shooting and making 7-of-10 3-point attempts. But for only the second time against Pac-10 foes, Washington never led by double-digits in the first half. Arizona State stayed close thanks to 10 made free throws, while Washington had just three.
The Huskies led by as many as seven early, but Diogu's thunderous rebound dunk with 5:35 left gave Arizona State a 31-26 lead, capping a 17-6 run.
Robinson scored the next 11 Washington points and the Huskies never again trailed.