UW Huskies fall just short in second game against Arizona State
After losing to Arizona State by 33 points on Tuesday, Washington had every opportunity to win Thursday’s rematch — for just about 38 minutes.
The final 2 minutes belonged to the Sun Devils — every big play, every key free throw. While the Huskies (4-15, 5-19 Pac-12) went nearly scoreless — shooting 1-of-8 from the field and 0-of-2 from the free-throw line — Arizona State (9-11, 6-8) shot 6-of-6 from the foul line and capped an 80-72 victory on a layup with 9 seconds left.
“I thought the guys had a really good mindset today,” said UW head coach Mike Hopkins. “They have a lot of pride. Obviously, we didn’t play great in the first outing and Arizona State played really well. Having a chance to play them again was a blessing. We came out. We battled. We’re still not happy that we lost, but we put ourselves in a better position to have a chance to win.”
UW trailed the first game by 20 at halftime, but the score was tied at 39 by halftime Thursday. The game stayed close in the second half with seven lead changes, four ties and neither team pulling ahead by more than eight points.
With 5:25 remaining, point guard Quade Green hit a jumper to give UW a 68-66 lead. Woods responded with a 3-pointer to put Arizona State back on top before a transition layup from Green gave the Huskies a one-point advantage.
After back-to-back turnovers, Remy Martin drained a 3-pointer to give the Sun Devils a 72-70 lead with 3:02 left. Cole Bajema’s three tied the game a minute later, but that was the last time UW would score.
“We didn’t make the plays down the stretch,” Hopkins said. “We got the plays to get close and Remy hits a big three. We just didn’t make the plays that you need to make to win on the road against Arizona State.”
Martin was particularly difficult for UW to handle — he finished with 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field after scoring 26 points on Tuesday. Kimani Lawrence added 21 points and 20 rebounds for the Sun Devils.
“(Martin’s) really fast,” Hopkins said. “He’s really strong. He’s really confident. He knows how to sell the game. … He goes to the foul line a lot and he’s hard to guard. He’s disruptive on the offensive end. He got hot early.”
While Martin kept his scoring pace, UW did have success slowing an Arizona State team that thrives in transition. Hopkins said that was a key adjustment, and one he credited with giving his team a chance to win.
“I felt like tonight, we controlled the tempo,” Hopkins said. “The coaches talked about how we can control it. … They have small guards and we have big guards, so posting up would slow us down a little bit. (Arizona State) likes to play at a frenetic pace. I thought we played at our tempo today. I thought that was huge.”
As the guards posted up, opportunities opened on the perimeter. The Huskies took advantage, shooting 11-of 27 from the 3-point line. Four players finished in double figures for UW, all guards — Green (16), Jamal Bey (14), Erik Stevenson (13) and Cole Bajema (11).
“We just fought tonight,” Green said. “That’s pretty much it. We just fought. Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting. And slowing the game down. (Arizona State) wants to rush it. With all the guards they got, they trying to rush it. So just slowing the game down, choppy game, that’s why we was in it.”
UW will close out the regular season against Arizona on Saturday — a game that will cap a stretch of eight games in 16 days.
And as the schedule comes to an end, Hopkins is still searching for consistency from his team. The Huskies have played some of the top teams in the Pac-12 close, but they’ve also been handed plenty of 20- and 30-point losses.
No two games showed the contrast more than the consecutive match-ups with Arizona State.
“It’s a focus,” Hopkins said. “It’s a mindset. I was proud of the way the guys responded today. But that is the (lack of) consistency, what you saw — so high and low, right? It’s either 90 degrees or it’s 40 degrees and we need to be at 72 degrees.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 6:10 PM.
