PULLMAN, Wash. β Even when Terrell Brown played his freshman season in relative obscurity, trying to gain Division I recruiting attention at a junior college outside Seattle, there was always at least one set of eyes on him.
Those belonged to Charles Brown, Terrellβs grandfather.
Maybe, in some form, Charles was also there Saturday for all 50 minutes of Arizonaβs 86-82 double-overtime win at Washington State, watching excitedly as Terrell banked in a go-ahead 3-point shot with 13 seconds left to finally put the Cougars away.
Maybe he even did more than that. Charles Brown had passed away Thursday, with Terrell receiving the news not long after arriving in his Seattle hometown for Arizonaβs win over the Huskies on New Yearβs Eve.
UA assistant coach Jason Terry said Brown dedicated Saturdayβs game to Charles and, when Brown was asked about that 3 falling awkwardly but accurately into the net, he wondered if an assist was in order.
βI guess you could say that was him guiding that basketball in,β Brown said.
Terry agreed.
βThe basketball gods β and his grandpa β were on our side,β Terry said.
Terry had actually known Charles Brown far longer, having been a lifelong friend of Terrellβs biological father and, by extension, a longtime acquaintance of his grandfather.
βGood, good dude,β Terry said of Charles. βCared about family. Family was huge to him. And he was a guy who always had a smile on his face. He faced some adversities with this health of late. But weβre glad now that he can be resting peacefully, and heβs in no more pain.
Certainly, there was some sort of spirit behind Brown and all of the Wildcats on Saturday. UA actually struggled in many areas: It had all its big men in foul trouble, made only 5 of 32 3-pointers, leading scorer Jemarl Baker was just 1 for 14 and point guard James Akinjo couldnβt find a shot or assist to make over the final 23 seconds of regulation that could have avoided the extra two overtimes.
But even as Brown snapped his improbable streak of 159 minutes without a turnover, committing one after an offensive rebound late in his scoreless first half, the grad transfer guard from Seattle U poured in 10 points over the two overtime periods to emerge as a late hero.
Meanwhile, freshman wing Bennedict Mathurin emerged as the overall hero Saturday, not only by scoring season highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds, but by taking over in a pinch at power forward when all four of UAβs bigs ran into foul trouble by the end of the first half.
Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin, right, did it all in the win, scoring 24 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and even playing some power forward.
The Wildcats often went with just one of their big men and a smaller set of four other players that often included Mathurin, but he survived what were physical matchups and in many cases exploited them with his athleticism.
βThat was my first time playing the four, against bigger guys,β Mathurin said. βIt was a challenge β¦. I knew I had to step up and my role was to grab rebounds. I did what I had to do to help the team.β
He did more than that, his presence felt no more so than at the end of the game. Mathurin pulled down a rebound when WSUβs Isaac Bonton missed his last free throw, with UA still leading by just two, drew a foul. He then went to the line to calmly sink two free throws with nine seconds left, giving UA the 86-82 lead and rendering WSUβs final possession all but meaningless.
βBenn stepped up at the end and made two big free throws, made big shots, and heβs playing efficiently,β said Terry, who was filling in for the unavailable coach Sean Miller during postgame interviews.
Not surprisingly, on Sunday, Arizona nominated Brown for the Pac-12 Player of the Week award and Mathurin for its Freshman of the Week award. Both will have a strong argument, since the awards often go to players who play key roles in helping their teams win multiple games and/or games on the road.
For the week, Brown averaged 12.3 points while dishing 10 assists to two turnovers, while Mathurin averaged 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds despite going without a point or rebound in 13 minutes against Colorado last Monday.
Meanwhile, the Wildcatsβ three wins could also propel them into the national rankings Monday, giving Brown yet another platform to shine on after a late-blooming start that begin as a lightly recruited player at Seattle Garfield High School, then continued into a starring role in junior college and at Seattle before arriving in Tucson.
Itβs a platform that means a lot more people than just Charles Brown will be watching.
βHe meant a lot to me,β Brown said. βI remember him coming to my Seattle U games a couple of times and he also came to my Shoreline (junior college) games and it was just the connection that you can go over there for Thanksgiving, or have a home-cooked meal.
βIt was really nice to have him. But my teammates had my back. We kind of talked about it after the U-Dub game and they helped me out for sure.β
Then, on Saturday, Brown paid them back.
