Simmons summons 29

SEATTLE – Tre Simmons missed an open 3-pointer to start the University of Washington’s Pacific-10 Conference men’s basketball game on Thursday night against USC.

His final two shots were missed free throws.

In between, however, he was so electric he almost made a 9-of-10 shooting night by teammate Jamaal Williams seem like an afterthought.

Simmons finished with a career-high 29 points as the No. 13 Huskies blew out USC 99-69 at Edmundson Pavilion.

Simmons hit four 3-pointers in the second half as the Huskies turned the game from rout to embarrassment. Simmons hit 6 of 14 on 3-pointers for the game, tying a school record for attempts set in 1997 by Deon Luton.

Simmons’ 29 points tied Nate Robinson’s output against Utah in the Great Alaska Shootout for the most by a Huskies player this season.

Williams, meanwhile, came off the bench to light a fire under the Huskies after they came out a little sluggishly.

USC led 15-10 just 7 minutes into the game. Then Williams hit a hook shot in the lane, hit another shot and made a free throw to start a 19-3 run that put Washington ahead for good.

USC crawled to a six-point deficit, but the Huskies scored the last 12 points of the first half, and the game was never in doubt from there.

Williams led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, making all five of his field-goal attempts and three free throws.

Williams then hit his first two shots in the second half before finally missing with 15:07 left. He left no doubt once he did miss, throwing up an air ball.

Then Simmons took over, hitting two consecutive 3-pointers in 20 seconds at around the 9-minute mark as the Huskies began to really pull away.

Washington’s first half displayed the depth that makes it so hard to stop.

Robinson, UW’s leading scorer, didn’t score until fewer than 5 minutes remained in the first half. He had just two points at halftime. Brandon Roy had no points in 10 first-half minutes, missing his only shot.

Still, UW led 47-29 at the break thanks to Williams and Simmons, who had 11 at halftime.

Washington improved to 8-2 in the Pac-10 and kept pace with co-leader Arizona. UW is 18-3 overall, its best 21-game record since the 1976 team started 19-2.

USC fell to 2-8 and 9-12.

(13) Washington 99, Southern California 69

Southern California (9-12) – Curtis 2-5 1-3 6, McMillan 3-8 1-2 7, Young 5-10 1-1 11, Stewart 5-11 0-0 13, Pruitt 3-6 0-0 7, Guenther 2-6 0-0 4, Penrose 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 0-0 3, Shackleford 2-8 0-1 6, O’Neil 2-4 1-1 5, Craven 3-8 0-1 6, Gaudino 0-2 1-3 1. Totals 28-70 5-12 69.

Washington (18-3) – Jones 2-3 0-0 4, Jensen 5-8 0-0 10, Simmons 11-21 1-4 29, Robinson 4-6 1-2 9, Conroy 5-6 2-2 13, Smith 2-5 0-0 4, Rpy 2-5 0-0 4, Rollins 0-1 0-0 0, Burmeister 2-4 0-0 5, Fletcher 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 9-10 3-3 21, Potter 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 42-70 7-11 99.

Halftime—Washington 47-29. 3-Point goals—USC 8-23 (Stewart 3-7, Shackleford 2-6, Moore 1-1, Pruitt 1-1, Curtis 1-2, Guenther 0-1, Penrose 0-1, O’Neil 0-1, Craven 0-1, Young 0-2), Washington 8-23 (Simmons 6-14, Conroy 1-2, Burmeister 1-3, Jensen 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Smith 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—USC 42 (McMillan 8), Washington 34 (Simmons, Roy 6). Assists—USC 15 (Craven 3), Washington 32 (Conroy 10). Total fouls—USC 11, Washington 18. A—10,000.