Without Brockman, Huskies edge Portland State

SEATTLE — What mattered most to the Washington Huskies was not how well they would start without leading scorer Jon Brockman against Portland State, but how well they would finish without him.

It was a frenetic finish as the Vikings went on a 16-1 run to close to within one point with 1:04 left. But Quincy Pondexter made a tip-in with 26 seconds left for a critical basket to help give the Huskies (6-3) an 84-83 victory Sunday.

Pondexter finished with 21 points. Matthew Bryan-Amaning, starting in Brockman’s spot, led the Huskies (6-3) with career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Dentmon had 20 while Isaiah Thomas had 16 points.

Dominic Waters led Portland State (7-2) with 19 points. Jeremiah Dominguez had 16.

Brockman, a senior forward who leads the team in scoring average at 16.8 points and rebounding at 11.4, sprained his right ankle during Saturday’s practice and was unable to play.

“Jon is a guy who puts out a lot of fires for our team,” Pondexter said. “So when he wasn’t in there, it was hard. It was really hard because a lot of plays you think someone is going to make, they’re not making them. He wasn’t there.”

Not only were the Huskies without Brockman, just 2 minutes and 43 seconds in, Darnell Gant picked up his third foul and left for the half. His replacement, Justin Holiday, also picked up a couple fouls by the 11:54 mark.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar “did a great job of getting his players to play relentless and hard and I am sure without having Brockman out there he challenged his players even more to go out there and get it,” said Portland State coach Ken Bone, a former Husky assistant.

The Huskies shrugged off their disadvantages. The Vikings led just briefly at 5-4. The Huskies went on to a 48-39 halftime lead, closing with an 8-2 run.

In the second half, the Huskies marched to a 15-point lead, 61-46, with 16:50 remaining. For the next 10 minutes the Vikings could not get any closer than nine points.

But with less than five minutes left, the Vikings went on a 16-1 run to close to 79-77 with 1:54 left. Former Husky Phil Nelson hit a pair of 3-pointers during the run.

“I’m not sure what exactly got me going,” said Nelson, who was 1 of 10 before hitting 3-for-3. “When the first shot goes in you start feeling good and then you make the second and everything starts to feel like a great shot.”

It was 79-78 inside of 30 seconds left when Thomas put up a hurried shot. It bounced off the back rim where Pondexter was waiting to tip it in for a 81-78 lead.

“I was trying to tip it to the other side and it went in,” Pondexter said. “It was the luck of God, that’s what it was.”

“We showed clips and clips and clips of what they do on the offensive glass and how relentless they are, and that’s exactly what Quincy did,” he said.

Thomas hit one of two free throws with 11 seconds left to make it 82-78. Dominguez followed with a drive down the entire floor, slipping inside for a layup with six seconds left to make it a two-point game.

Dentmon was fouled as the Huskies inbounded with four seconds left. He made both. Waters flipped in a desperate 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish it.

“Despite the ending, I thought our guys played really well and did not feel sorry for themselves for losing Jon,” Romar said.