Arizona forward Zeke Nnaji (22) gets a hand in the face from Washington forward Jaden McDaniels (0) trying for a put back in the first half of their Pac12 game at McKale Center, March 7, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Washington’s zone defense hasn’t flattened the Pac-12 the way it did a year ago, but it has puzzled the Arizona Wildcats twice this season.

And this time, Arizona never recovered.

Although the Wildcats managed to pull out a three-point win after some initial problems against the Huskies’ zone on Jan. 30 in Seattle, in a 69-63 loss Saturday at McKale Center, they stumbled to a 15-point halftime deficit while shooting just 20% percent and committing 10 turnovers before halftime.

Arizona never led again despite a heroic Senior Day performance from guard Dylan Smith, who hit six 3-pointers after suffering a broken nose.

β€œOur performance tonight was poor. Poor,” UA coach Sean Miller said. β€œWe weren’t ready to play. We didn’t run as fast, jump as high, struggled to get back defensively.”

Smith suffered a broken nose in the first half when he collided with the elbow of Washington’s 250-pound center Isaiah Stewart with 13 minutes left before halftime. He was taken to the locker room and put under concussion protocol while having cotton nose plugs inserted into both nostrils.

Smith was off the floor over six minutes, initially returning to the bench with an ice bag on his forehead, and UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie said he lobbied hard to come back even quicker.

Miller also praised Smith’s attitude in the face of adversity.

β€œThese days, you know, if you get hit in an eyebrow, you could be out for two to four weeks,” Miller said dryly. β€œThe kid broke his nose. His nose is smashed. And he played and really is the reason we stayed in the game.

β€œOne thing I'll say about Dylan Smith is he shows up in. In today's world of college basketball, effort level and in being able to count on these guys is really important. … his fight in the second half and just watching him take that hit … in response, wow, it's quite a testament to being a tough kid.”

The Wildcats’ only four-year player, though he began his career at UNC Asheville, Smith hit 6 of 8 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a team-high 19 points.

The loss dropped Arizona to 20-11 and a final Pac-12 record of 10-8, although the Wildcats were already locked into the No. 5 Pac-12 Tournament seed before the game began. Arizona will face Washington again on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in a Pac-12 Tournament first round game in Las Vegas.

Washington, similarly locked into the No. 12 seed before the game began, finished its regular season at 15-16 and 5-14, having finished last in the Pac-12 after winning it with a 15-3 record last season.

Thanks in large part to Smith’s four early 3s in the second half, Arizona trailed just 55-51 when Christian Koloko was called for reaching over the back of Stewart – and then was called for a technical for appealing the call.

β€œChristian may be one of the nicest kids that I've ever met,” Miller said. β€œWe’re actually on him to communicate more. It's just hard for me to believe, but I guess that's the way the world right now.”

The two fouls resulted in four Washington made free throws, two by Jaden McDaniels and two by Stewart, and the Wildcats never recovered even as Smith hit his sixth 3-pointer.

McDaniels wound up leading the Huskies in scoring with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Earlier, Washington expanded a 15-point halftime lead to 38-23 when Stewart dunked inside 30 seconds into the half, but Smith then hit three 3-pointers within 66 seconds – all from the right corner and wing -- to singlehandedly pull UA within 10 points, 42-32.

Then, after Stewart scored inside, Smith fired in a 25-footer from above the top of the key to cut the Huskies’ lead to single digits, just 44-35.

UA guard Nico Mannion later hit a 3-pointer to cut Washington’s lead to 48-40 with 12 minutes left in the game and a 6-0 run, thanks to a three-point play from Mannion, pulled UA to within 53-48 with 8:46 left. Mannion had hit a near-3-pointer from the right corner when he drew a foul from Washington’s Hameir Wright, then made the ensuing free throw to keep the game.

In the first half, Arizona shot just 20% and committed 10 turnovers against Washington’s zone defense while falling behind 38-23 at halftime

McDaniels, a projected NBA first-round pick who comes off the bench for the Huskies, had 11 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Josh Green had eight points to lead Arizona in the first half. While Green made the only 3-pointer he took, his teammates missed all of theirs, seven in total.

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Arizona also allowed the Huskies to score 16 points off their 10 turnovers while the Huskies outscored them 22-4 in the paint.

Arizona stayed close with Washington over the first seven minutes of the game, but things changed after Smith went down after taking an elbow to the face from Washington’s Isaiah Stewart.

Washington forward Isaiah Stewart (33) comes down on Arizona guard Dylan Smith (3), breaking his nose bringing down an offensive rebound in the first half of their Pac12 game at McKale Center, March 7, 2020, Tucson, Ariz.

Officials ruled Stewart’s elbow was inadvertent and did not call a foul on the play, but Smith went to the locker room. By the time Smith returned to the game with 5:57 to go, the Huskies had a 29-16 lead, with McDaniels having just hit a 3-pointer and making a layup after Marcus Tsohonis stole the ball from UA’s Josh Green.

The Wildcats cut it to 33-23 with 1:42 left, but from there, the Wildcats let Washington big man Sam Timmons open for a 3-pointer he hit, while Naz Carter drove inside for a short jumper after Nico Mannion threw an errant pass inside. That gave the Huskies a 15-point lead again at halftime.

The Wildcats were again playing without two reserve players: Guard Max Hazzard, who is being held out for what UA is calling personal reasons, and center Chase Jeter, who was suspended for both UA’s games this weekend for unspecified reasons.

Check out photos of Arizona's loss to Washington here:Β 

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at 573-4146 or bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter @brucepascoe