UW-Oregon State game Huskies roll past Beavers
SEATTLE – The plan is to deliver an early knockout punch, for the University of Washington’s 14th-ranked basketball team to level an opponent as quickly as possible.
The Huskies might want to rethink that approach. On Saturday night against Oregon State, they found a better one – the delayed hammer.
Practically lulling the Beavers into a false sense of security at Edmundson Pavilion, the Huskies waited seven minutes before shaking free of the guys in the black uniforms with a fearsome 24-0 run and tagged the Beavers with a 108-68 Pacific-10 Conference defeat before another sellout gathering.
OSU coach Jay John saw half of it. After complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath, he was seen wearing an oxygen mask when he was put on a stretcher and loaded into an emergency medical van during the intermission break.
John, 46, was taken across the street to UW Medical Center. His blood pressure appeared elevated and he was being further evaluated, a school publicist said.
“He told us at halftime, ‘Guys, I don’t feel quite right,’ ” Beavers assistant coach Brian Loyd said.
“He wasn’t himself,” OSU guard Lamar Hurd added. “He wasn’t as vocal as he usually is. But I hear he’s OK.”
For UW, the lopsided outcome represented its 17th consecutive home victory. It also improved the Huskies’ record to 15-2, 5-1, giving them one of the school’s nine best starts through 17 outings.
If that weren’t enough, the home club over a three-day period slapped the state of Oregon silly, beating the Ducks and Beavers by a combined 62 points.
UW guard Tre Simmons, rarely working inside 20 feet, dropped in 6 of 7 3-pointers and led all scorers with 26 points.
Backup Huskies forward Jamaal Williams, never working farther out than 10 feet from the basket, had 16 points in the first half and finished with a UW-best 24, one off his collegiate high at New Mexico. He played 17 minutes.
“They let me pick and choose which way I wanted to turn,” Williams said. “It was easy like that. Tre had the outside and I had the inside. It was hard for them to choose which one to stop.”
UW coach Lorenzo Romar was happy with the entire package Williams provided, not just the points.
“We have seen Jamaal score before,” the coach said. “What we were excited about with Jamaal was his effort. He gave a fantastic effort defensively on the boards and really hustled. In terms of intensity, that’s been his best effort.”
After blowing out to early, attention-grabbing leads in each of their previous five conference encounters, including the one they lost at UCLA, the Huskies needed a little time to get organized. “I won’t lie, I thought it was going to be a tight one,” Simmons said. “Last year, both games were tight.”
(14) Washington 108, OSU 68
Oregon State (10-6, 2-3)–Remmers 2-5 0-0 4, DeWitz 7-14 0-2 17, Lucas 3-6 2-2 8, Hurd 2-5 1-2 5, Stephens 4-10 0-0 9, M.Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Fontenet 1-1 0-0 2, Hanchett 0-1 0-0 0, Cuic 2-6 3-3 8, Nash 5-11 2-2 12, Hooks 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 27-63 9-13 68.
Washington (15-2, 5-1)–B.Jones 6-10 3-4 15, Jensen 1-3 0-0 2, Simmons 8-14 4-6 26, Robinson 6-9 3-5 15, Conroy 3-5 3-3 9, J.Smith 0-3 3-3 3, Rollins 2-5 0-0 4, Burmeister 0-1 0-0 0, Fletcher 0-0 0-0 0, Gasser 2-3 1-2 5, J.Williams 10-13 4-5 24, Potter 1-3 0-0 2, A.Johnson 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 40-70 22-30 108.
Halftime–Washington 51, Oregon State 26. 3-point goals–Oregon State 5-20 (DeWitz 3-4, Cuic 1-2, Stephens 1-6, Hurd 0-1, Remmers 0-2, M.Jones 0-2, Nash 0-3), Washington 6-14 (Simmons 6-7, B.Jones 0-1, Jensen 0-1, Conroy 0-1, J.Smith 0-1, Burmeister 0-1, Robinson 0-2). Fouled out–Cuic. Rebounds–Oregon State 23 (DeWitz 9), Washington 47 (Robinson 8). Assists–Oregon State 14 (Hurd 6), Washington 26 (Robinson 8). Total fouls–Oregon State 21, Washington 15. A–10,000.