Huskies open defense with win
Pondexter, Thomas keep Oregon State at arm’s length
SEATTLE – Quincy Pondexter scored 20 points, Isaiah Thomas added 19 and No. 17 Washington opened its defense of its Pac-10 Conference title by holding on in the final minutes for a 76-70 win over Oregon State on Thursday night.
Scrappy reserve guard Venoy Overton scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half as Washington used a big surge over the final 12 minutes before the break to build a lead that withstood all of Oregon State’s charges in the second half.
Washington (10-2, 1-0 Pac-10) is the only Pac-10 team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and began the conference season with a lethargic first 7 minutes. But Overton provided the spark and Washington closed the first half on a 33-14 for a 10-point halftime lead.
They needed all of that lead as Oregon State trimmed an 11-point deficit with 4:28 left down to three in the final minute.
Roeland Schaftenaar led Oregon State (6-5, 0-1) with 16 points.
Washington appeared firmly in control with 4:28 left after Overton’s driving layup gave it a 69-58 lead. Oregon State then started chipping away, in a hurry.
The Beavers used a rare four-point play – Johnson’s 3 while Schaftenaar was fouled under the basket – and two more free throws from Schaftenaar to pull to 69-64 with 3:22 left. Oregon State forced a Thomas miss in the lane, but Haynes missed a breakaway layup and Washington’s Elston Turner was fouled. He made both to push the advantage back to seven.
Haynes made up for his mistake with a 3, getting the Beavers as close as they had been since it was 33-29 late in the first half. After Thomas’ pass was stolen by Johnson, Haynes was fouled on a drive and made 1 of 2 free throws getting OSU within 71-68.
The Beavers forced another turnover as Overton tried dribbling through a triple team, but Haynes stumbled out beyond the 3-point line under pressure and was called for traveling with 1:08 left.
Washington worked the shot clock down, but Pondexter lost his dribble and Oregon State raced into the front court. Seth Tarver missed a contested look from the low block and Pondexter was fouled on the rebound. Pondexter made four straight free throws in the closing seconds and Darnell Gant added one more.