Jensen answers call
SEATTLE – Mike Jensen waved his arms, wore a broad grin and gleefully skipped down court. And that was just in the first five minutes.
“He came out like a wild man,” teammate Brandon Roy said.
Jensen made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 18 points, leading No. 17 Washington past Stanford 75-57 on Thursday night to keep its hopes alive for a Pac-10 regular-season title.
The Huskies (21-5, 10-5) remained one game back of California and UCLA and host the Golden Bears in their final home game on Sunday night.
Jensen’s shooting from the outside was a key element missing when the Huskies lost to Stanford on Jan. 29. That day, the Huskies were 2-for-17 on 3-point attempts.
On Thursday, Jensen scored nine of Washington’s first 11 points, all on 3-pointers, and finished 6-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. His shooting forced Stanford to scrap its defensive game plan and opportunities developed for Jensen’s teammates.
“Mike’s the kind of guy that if he makes his first couple, he doesn’t think he’s going to miss – ever – for the rest of his life,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Roy was the main beneficiary. The senior continued his outstanding play of late with 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists. The back-to-back conference player of the week scored at least 20 points for the eighth straight game.
Roy was efficient, making 7-of-13 shots and was 8-for-8 on free throws. Jamaal Williams added 10 points off the bench for Washington, which won its fifth straight.
“Mike just stretched the defense out and it created more opportunities for me to drive,” Roy said. “He came out so aggressive.”
The loss dealt a serious blow to Stanford’s hopes of making a 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal (13-11, 9-6) lost for the fourth time in their last five games and have beat just one ranked opponent this season – Washington.
This night hardly resembled the first matchup.
In that meeting, Washington led 63-60 when Huskies’ freshman Justin Dentmon fouled Stanford’s Chris Hernandez on a 3-pointer with .2 seconds left. Hernandez made all three free throws to force overtime and the Cardinal pulled away for a 76-67 win.
Harassed constantly by Washington’s vocal student section, Hernandez was miserable on Thursday night. He missed his first six shots and finished with nine points on 2-for-13 shooting.
Matt Haryasz and Peter Prowitt led the Cardinal with 10 points each. Stanford shot just 37 percent.
(19) UCLA 78, Oregon St. 60: At Los Angeles, Jordan Farmar scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and Arron Afflalo had 20 points, keeping the Bruins in a first-place tie in the Pac-10.
UCLA trailed by double digits in the first half but went on a 20-0 run midway through the second and led by as many as 19 down the stretch. The Bruins shot 75 percent (18 for 24) in the second half.
Oregon 73, USC 61: At Los Angeles, Malik Hairston scored 16 of his 18 points in the final 12 minutes to lead Oregon.
The Ducks’ Aaron Brooks led all scorers with 20 and Ray Schaefer had 13 as Oregon defeated the Trojans for the seventh time in eight meetings.
Ryan Francis scored 18 points for USC. Trojans scoring leader Nick Young finished with 14.
Gabe Pruitt, who scored 30 points in an 84-78 win over Oregon at Eugene on Jan. 28, missed his fourth straight game because of a fracture in his left knee.