Wroten carries UW past UCSB

SEATTLE – Making his first career start, freshman Tony Wroten popped for a career-best 27 points, Terrence Ross scored 14 of his 16 in the second half and Washington snapped its three-game losing streak with an 87-80 win over UC Santa Barbara on Friday night.

Inserted into the starting lineup with center Aziz N’Diaye out due to a knee injury, Wroten shone. At times he was Washington’s offense, and at other moments he was causing all sorts of headaches for his team with lazy passes and lax play.

In the end, Washington (5-4) needed all of Wroten’s points, even though his struggles at the free-throw line gave UCSB a chance in the closing seconds.

Wroten was 11 of 21 shooting and had seven rebounds but was just 4 of 9 at the line.

Orlando Johnson led the Gauchos (5-3) with 24 points, but he also missed three key free throws in the final minutes.

Abdul Gaddy added 17 points as Washington extended its nonconference home winning streak to 32 games.

This night will be remembered for Wroten’s wildly up-and-down first start, with more highlights than headshakes, that gave coach Lorenzo Romar his 200th career win at Washington.