SEATTLE -- Freshman Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points and Justin Dentmon returned from foul trouble to spark the decisive late run that sent resurgent Washington to an 86-75 victory over 13th-ranked UCLA and gave the Pac-10 a new leader on Saturday.
Jon Brockman rebounded from an off night Thursday to score 18 points and add eight rebounds for Washington (15-4), which won for the 13th time in 14 games. The Huskies scored more points than anyone had this season against the rugged Bruins.
"It's a great feeling," Brockman said, before sounding like the senior leader he is. "But there's a lot of league season left."
Josh Shipp scored a career-high 25 points but went scoreless for more than nine minutes of the second half for the Bruins (15-4, 5-2 Pac-10), who lost for the second time in three games.
"Right now, we just don't have enough heart, basically," freshman forward Drew Gordon said after scoring five points and getting a bruised knee from the face of the relentless, diving Brockman. "At the end of the day, the other team wants it more.The Huskies won for the fifth consecutive time over UCLA in Seattle and are 6-1 in the conference for the third time in 25 years.
"I think this game was a good wake-up call. Hopefully, we'll get hungrier."
Dentmon finished with 16 points -- 10 after he returned with 4:59 left from being on the bench for eight minutes with our fouls.
When Dentmon, who had scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games, went to the bench after getting his fourth foul with 12:39 remaining, Thomas was Washington's only guard for a stretch.
Yet "I.T." was all good for the Huskies.
UCLA's Nikola Dragovic, who had missed four of his first five shots, scored five consecutive points to tie the game at 58 midway through the second half. Then Thomas took over. Quincy Pondexter scored for Washington before Thomas made his third consecutive 3-pointer, this one from four steps behind the arc.
The sellout crowd roared, Thomas raised both arms and flashed two thumbs up while the UW students chanted "You can't stop I.T.!" UCLA took a timeout down 63-58.
Darren Collison, who finished with 12 points on just 5-for-14 shooting, made two free throws to draw the Bruins within 67-66 with 6:13 remaining. But the Huskies scored the next 12 points, eight by Dentmon.
He turned his consecutive steals into points, then smoothly drove into the lane and scooped in two more with the shot clock running out to make it 76-66 with 2:50 remaining and effectively give the Pac-10 a new leader.
Two days after Southern California held Brockman without a field goal for the first time since his freshman season, the senior scored seven points in the first 4:17 of the second half. The final ones came on a three-point play when he bulled through J'mison Morgan after getting prime position inside. That gave Washington a 49-46 lead.
How much was this Washington's day? Brockman, a Shaq-like 55-percent free throw shooter, was 8-for-10 from the line.
Dragovic scored eight points and was 3-for-8 from the field after scoring 20 in a two-point win at Washington State on Thursday. That escape had come after a loss at home to No. 17 Arizona State last weekend.
The Bruins, who have won three consecutive conference titles and been to three straight Final Fours, never led over the final 16 minutes on Saturday.
Shipp had 12 points early, thanks to 3-for-4 shooting on 3-pointers. That gave UCLA a 39-38 lead at halftime.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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