SEATTLE – Arizona accumulated another long list of issues on the road again Thursday, but the only thing it cost them this time was a few nervous breaths.

In their 75-72 win over Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, the Wildcats turned the ball over too often early in the game. They blew an early 10-point lead. Gave up 14 3-pointers. Shot less than 40 percent. And couldn’t get Zeke Nnaji in double figures of any sort.

But they won. On the road.

Maybe that was all that really mattered.

β€œIt feels good to have that first road win,” said UA guard Jemarl Baker, who scored a career-high 17 points with 4 of 7 3-point shooting, including a go-ahead 3 with 44 seconds left. β€œIt was hard-fought. They shot the lights out and it took all of us to come together.”

The Huskies hit 14 of 28 3s but did little else offensively while UA smothered Washington big man Isaiah Stewart enough to hold him to just nine points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Arizona also outrebounded Washington 37-36 overall and held UW to just six offensive rebounds. The Wildcats shot only 38.7% but hit 10 of 26 3-pointers and had just 10 turnovers despite coughing it up four times over the first four minutes.

β€œWe settled down,” UA coach Sean Miller said.

More important, the Wildcats stayed settled down even when things started looking rough.

After blowing a 22-point lead in their 66-65 loss at ASU last Saturday, the Wildcats built up a 10-point lead midway through the first half and lost it all before halftime.

They could have given up then or in the second half, when Washington went on an early 11-0 run thanks to four 3-pointers and a layup from Stewart.

Seven different Washington players hit 3-pointers, seemingly one popping up over the shoulders of just about anyone wearing an Arizona uniform. Some of them were a result of defensive breakdowns, but Miller said he thought the Huskies mostly hit tough shots.

The potential for frustration was everywhere. But the Wildcats kept cool.

β€œMan, it's hard to win a game when the team makes 14” 3-pointers, Miller said. β€œI thought they had a great night from the 3-point line. Some maybe we could have contested better but there were other ones where they just made the shots. But to our guys’ credit, we kept playing all the way to the end.”

Miller said he was sure that some of UA’s recent experiences on the road encouraged them to keep at it, something both Baker and Stone Gettings agreed with after the game.

β€œThe margin of difference on the road in close names is very, very slim,” Gettings said. β€œI think the more of those games that you play, the better equipped you are to handle them.”

Some of it, maybe, was that the odds were simply in the Wildcats’ favor for a change. After Washington built a 57-48 lead early in the second half on a dunk from Jaden McDaniels, refs whistled McDaniels for taunting, and Mannion promptly hit the two resulting technical foul shots.

From there, Gettings hit two free throws and Baker hit his second 3-pointer. Then the Wildcats received another major break and took advantage of that, too: Hameir Wright tried to block a 3-pointer by Baker but was called for a foul, with 4:41 left and Washington leading 69-64.

Baker went to the line and hit all three free throws and then, after Nnaji rebounded Wright’s miss underneath the basket, Baker went down and hit another 3 to give UA a 70-69 lead with 4:17 left.

Less than three minutes later, Baker hit his final 3 from about 23 feet to make it 74-72, this time the go-ahead shot.

Baker’s four 3-pointers also tied his career high set earlier this season against New Mexico State, though Thursday’s production was undoubtedly more critical. The Wildcats beat the Aggies by 30 and Baker was just 2 for 8 combined from 3-point range over his previous four games.

But Miller had said before the game that it was up to him to instill more confidence in his players, after they fell apart at ASU, and it appeared to have worked with Baker.

β€œCoach told me to continue to stay confident in myself and continue to shoot,” Baker said. β€œI knew (against the Huskies’) zone, I would be able to get good looks, and it was just a matter of me hitting them.”

After Baker’s final 3, Washington’s RaeQuan Battle was in position to match it with a 3 of his own, and the momentum suggested he would: Battle was 4 for 7 from 3 at that point.

But Battle missed this time and, after Dylan Smith rebounded it, he was fouled. Smith then hit the front end of a one-and-one with 19.6 seconds left to put UA up by 3.

Washington failed to score from there, with Jaden McDaniels turning the ball over near midcourt and Marcus Tsohonis missing a final 3-point attempt with two seconds left before Mannion ran out the clock.

Mannion finished with 16 points and five assists, while Gettings had 13 points and Nnaji nine points and eight rebounds.

The win moved Arizona to 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12 while Washington dropped to 12-10 and 2-7. The Wildcats will face Washington State (13-9, 4-5) on Saturday in Pullman, Wash.

β€œYou gotta win on the road, I understand that,” Miller said. β€œBut you get in these games and eventually you're going to be able to punch one out. I really give our team a lot of credit for playing all the way to the end.”

View the Star's e-edition from Thursday night's game:

Download PDF E-edition: Arizona beats Washington in Seattle

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