• Arizona 106, UW 97
TUCSON, ARIZ. – The Washington Huskies have had some good days recently: beating UCLA, moving to the top of the Pacific-10 Conference standings, breaking into the national rankings.

And coach Lorenzo Romar noticed a lot of good moods seemed to follow his players into the McKale Center locker room Thursday before their game against Arizona.

But he didn’t think much of that – he’s come to know this as a loose team that knows when it is time to work.

Except this time they didn’t. And they paid a price, getting dumped by the Wildcats, 106-97, before a frenzied crowd of 14,434.

“We haven’t had a game like this in a long, long time,” Romar said. “And (this time) we did. Give Arizona a lot of credit: They came at us. But I didn’t think we fought like we needed to.”

One result was Washington giving up its highest point total since January 1998. Another was falling back into a tie with UCLA for the conference lead.

“Our team has a great balance of being somewhat loose and ready to play,” Romar said. “Tonight I thought maybe one or two were even more loose than normal. But it’s something we addressed Monday: We’ve got to bring it. We’ve got to bring it. We talked about it all week. Sometimes you can tell the child not to touch the stove, but until he touches it, he may not really believe that it’s that hot.”

On Thursday, it was Arizona (13-8 overall, 3-5 Pac-10) that was sizzling – led by junior guard Nic Wise, who scored a game-high 29 points and dished eight assists.

He hit the layup about 16 minutes from the end that gave Arizona the lead for good. And he seemed to time his three 3-pointers for maximum damage.

“Nic Wise played a fantastic game,” Romar said. “We weren’t able to get him under control. That broke our defense down.”

The Wildcats also benefited from 51 foul shots – including a couple from a late hard foul by Jon Brockman that caused the teams to exchange heated words.

Not only did Arizona convert those free throws into 41 points, but UW senior guard Justin Dentmon said all those whistles backed the Huskies off into a less aggressive defensive mind-set.

The other members of Arizona’s big three also took their toll. Forward Chase Budinger had 25 points. Big man Jordan Hill had 18 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with about three and a half minutes left.

It had been a game of streaks all along, and the Huskies sensed a chance to make one last run from eight down with Hill on the bench.

But Arizona summoned whatever it needed to not only hold its lead, but increase it.

“It was a huge win for us,” Budinger said. “They’re the first place team in the Pac-10 and we’re pretty far down there. It gives us a lot of confidence and shows that we can play with anyone in the conference.”

Washington also had its share of shiny offensive performances. Brockman had 27 points and 16 rebounds. Dentmon had 23 points, including seven 3-pointers in 12 attempts – “I felt like my hands were on fire,” he said.

But Brockman and Dentmon are seniors, and they wondered if the double intensity of the Wildcats and their fans affected the younger players.

“I don’t think some of our guys had played in an atmosphere like this,” Dentmon said. “They probably got rattled at times.”

Perhaps older and wiser, Washington (15-5, 6-2) now travels up Interstate 10 for a Saturday afternoon game against No. 14 Arizona State in Tempe.

“That was a wake-up call for us,” Brockman said. “For whatever reason we came out, Coach Romar would say, with our cool jackets on. We came out kind of feeling (good about) ourselves, thinking we could just play cool and win the game. Well, that’s not the case.

“That’s not what got us to where we were. That’s not how Washington basketball is played. We’ve got to get back to tough, grit-it-out hustle plays, scrappy Washington basketball.”

Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808

blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports

STAR OF THE GAME

Arizona junior guard Nic Wise had a game-high 29 points while also dishing out eight assists. He hit all 14 of his free throws and was 3-of-7 shooting on 3-pointers.

Key stats

Arizona took 51 foul shots and hit 41 of them (80.4 percent). … The Wildcats scored 69 points in the second half, while shooting 62.6 percent from the field over those final 20 minutes. … UW guard Justin Dentmon hit a career-high seven 3-pointers. Freshman Elston Turner tied his career-high with three 3-pointers.

Key play

Washington cut Arizona’s lead to three points with just under two minutes remaining. On Arizona’s next possession, Zane Johnson – who averages 4.4 points – launched a 3-pointer with plenty of time on the shot clock – and nailed it. “When he locked and loaded for that shot, I just about had a heart attack,” UA junior Chase Budinger said. “I just looked up and said, ‘Uh oh.’ … It turned out to be a huge shot.”

Observations

The Huskies gave up their most points since January 1998 when they were scorched for 112 points – also at Arizona. … UW senior Jon Brockman was called for an intentional foul in the final minute when he hit Arizona’s Fendi Onobun, who was driving to the basket. Brockman said he apologized immediately and again after the game, but Onobun wasn’t happy.

Quotable

“We’re a physical team, but once we stated getting fouls on us, it made us hesitant so we couldn’t really play with pressure or we’d foul out. You can’t really point any fingers. When all is said and done, we just didn’t come out to play.” – UW senior Justin Dentmon.

Next

2:30 p.m. Saturday, at No. 14 Arizona State, Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, Ariz.

Don Ruiz, The News Tribune