UW tops No. 25 UCLA in 2 OTs

If you looked closely, in between the fouls and the fouls and the fouls, you could make out faint signs of a basketball game played on Friday night at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle.

It was ugly. Like, really ugly. Washington and UCLA players were allowed human movement only long enough to get back up and down the floor, at which point a foul would be called, nearly without exception, it seemed, the officials adhering as strictly as possible to the NCAA’s emphases against physical contact.

The game had no rhythm, no flow. Too many fouls, too many free throws. It lasted far too long, a game that tipped off at 8 p.m., cannonballed into two ridiculous overtimes – thank Bryce Alford and his two clutch 3-pointers for that – and did not end until the clock read 10:49.

But it ended with the Huskies ahead. They won 96-93 against No. 25 UCLA (9-5) in a Pac-12 opener.

And they might have put this one away earlier if they hadn’t allowed two enormous 3-pointers to Alford, one at the end of regulation and one at the end of the first overtime.

Washington (9-4) finally forced separation in the second overtime, when Andrew Andrews, who led UW with 35 points, made a 3-pointer then dunked in transition following a turnover to give the Huskies a 90-85 lead. David Crisp later hit a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to give UW a four-point lead, and after Isaac Hamilton drove and missed a potential game-tying shot in the final 10 seconds, UW freshman Matisse Thybulle made one free throw to give the Huskies a three-point lead.

This time, they fouled Alford with 1.8 seconds left. He made the first free throw, tried to miss the second but made it anyway, and the Huskies escaped with the win.

The officials called 64 fouls total.

Stanford 70, (21) Utah 68, OT: Rosco Allen scored five of his 17 points in overtime after banking in the tying basket with 10.5 seconds left in regulation, and the Cardinal (8-4) took advantage of many missed free throws to beat the Utes (11-3) in the Pac-12 opener for both schools.

The Utes got one final play with seven seconds left and Lorenzo Bonam drove and traveled.

Utah – the best free-throw shooting team in the conference coming in at 73.2 percent – missed four free throws in the final 18.9 seconds of regulation.

Cal 79, Colorado 65: Jordan Mathews matched his season high of 22 points and made five 3-pointers in the second half as the Golden Bears (11-3) beat the Buffaloes (11-3) in a conference opener at Berkeley, California. It was Mathews’ second straight game with five 3s.