SEATTLE – Deandre Ayton had the kind of “assist” that nobody wants to have Saturday.
With four seconds left and the game tied Saturday, Arizona’s freshman phenom whacked away a potential game-winner from Jaylen Nowell so hard that it flipped almost right into the hands of Washington’s Dominic Green beyond the 3-point arch.
Boom. Green hit a 3 as time expired, giving Washington a 78-75 win over Arizona in yet another thriller at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Was that some tough luck for the Wildcats? Or just karma evening things out?
UA coach Sean Miller votes for the latter, after having seen the Wildcats pull out so many close games en route to a 19-5 record so far this season.
“We’ve had so many games like this where the ball bounces you way, and you say we know how to win, how to finish,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of truth to that. But when you keep playing one-possession games, the other team can do it, too.”
Washington guard David Crisp began running a play with nine seconds left, eventually getting Washington’s Jaylen Nowell the ball for a short jumper. Ayton firmly rejected the shot, but hit it so hard it went almost directly in the hands of Green, who then spotted up for the game winner.
That one moment seemingly took away from Arizona’s success against Washington’s zone defense, with both Dusan Ristic and Ayton posting double doubles, but Ristic didn’t look at it that way.
Like Miller did, Ristic said it was about Arizona’s lack of defense.
“You say it was bad luck for us,” Ristic said. “But I don’t think we gonna talk about that. It’s our defense. … We couldn’t get a stop at the end. We exchanged points, but at the end we couldn’t get a stop.”
After the Wildcats cleared the court, Huskies fans raced on to it in celebration.
The loss snapped Arizona’s seven-game winning streak and dropped the Wildcats to 19-5 overall and 9-2 in the Pac-12 entering home games against UCLA on Thursday and USC on Friday.
Washington improved to 17-6 and 7-3, having moved into strong NCAA Tournament consideration.
Dusan Ristic and Ayton both had double-doubles to lead Arizona, with Ristic collecting 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ayton getting 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Trier scored 20 points but did so with less than his usual efficiency, shooting 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
Arizona shot 50 percent from the field despite some initial struggles against Washington’s zone defense, but the Wildcats made just 2 of 12 3-pointers. Washington shot 47.6 percent and made 8 of 14 3s, with Green making 4 of 5 from long range.
Down by up to 14 points earlier in the second half, UA led by three with 2:24 to go, 71-68 on a jumper by Ristic, but a 3-pointer from Washington’s Dominic Green tied it at 73 with 1:19 to go. On UA’s next possession, Ayton stepped on the line with 1:05 left for the Wildcats’ seventh turnover of the second half.
Washington’s Noah Dickerson then made a rebound basket inside against two UA defenders, giving Washington a 75-73 lead with 43 seconds left.
Trailing 35-28 at halftime, Arizona committed four turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half and quickly found itself in a 14-point hole when Jaylen Nowell hit a 3-pointer with 17:39 left, making it 46-32.
But the Wildcats erased almost all of it with a 17-4 run that was capped when Ristic blocked Sam Timmons and that led to a three-point play from Allonzo Trier. After driving inside on the break, Trier picked up a foul from Dominic Green as he made a layup and then hit the ensuing free throw to cut Washington’s lead to 50-49 with 11:57 left.
The Wildcats later tied it at 56 on a 17-foot jumper from Ayton and the game remained within one possession the rest of the way.
In the first half, despite having some success inside against Washington’s zone defense, Arizona shot just 36.4 percent overall.
Ayton had nine points and Ristic another eight, but the Wildcats made just 1 of 6 3-pointers. Wing Rawle Alkins was 1 of 8 from the field overall.
Washington took early leads of 7-2 and 11-7, while UA tied it at 14 with 11:47 left on a jumper from Ristic. But the Wildcats were never able to take a lead, keeping the rowdy sellout crowd at Hec Edmundson Pavilion engaged.
Washington took a 23-16 lead after baskets by center Sam Timmons and guard David Crisp, and UA was shooting just 36.4 percent at that point, while making only 1 of 5 3-point attempts.
The game marked the return of UA associate head coach Lorenzo Romar to Hec Ed, and the former Husky head coach was greeted with standing ovations as he walked on to the court and when he was mentioned during Arizona’s lineup introductions.
