Bryan-Amaning paces Huskies with career-high 30

SEATTLE – On an afternoon when the red-hot University of Washington men’s basketball team was trying to sleepwalk its way to another home win against an inferior opponent, Huskies senior Matthew Bryan-Amaning was a tall splash of water.

The 6-foot-9 center hoisted a dormant UW team on his able shoulders Saturday, scoring a career-high 30 points to carry the Huskies to an 88-75 victory that was a little too close for comfort.

“It’s never fun to play against Arizona State,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said afterward. “They always make it difficult. We’re just excited we were able to come out with a victory and move on. As my good buddy (St. John’s coach) Steve Lavin says, ‘Sometimes you just have to move the chains.’ That’s what we did (Saturday).”

Playing against one of two teams tied at the bottom of the Pac-10 standings, front-running UW (15-4 overall, 7-1 in the conference) played much of the first half as if it had never before seen a zone defense. Bryan-Amaning’s 16 first-half points were the only thing that kept the 20th-ranked Huskies from getting blown out of their own building, while a few teammates chipped in to help the cause down the stretch.

C.J. Wilcox hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 5:50 remaining to give UW a 66-63 lead, and the Huskies never trailed again. Isaiah Thomas scored nine points in the final 3:05 to help hold off a late ASU charge, while teammate Venoy Overton hustled back on defense to block a fast-break layup from the Sun Devils’ Jamelle McMillan and maintain a five-point lead with just over a minute to go.

And Scott Suggs put the final nail in ASU’s coffin with a baseline 3-pointer for an 81-73 lead with 62 seconds remaining.

But it was Bryan-Amaning, the big man who often found himself matched up with defenders 6-7 or smaller at the base of the ASU 1-3-1 zone, who carried UW for most of the afternoon.

“(The Sun Devils) were focused on our guys out on the perimeter,” Suggs said. “Anytime you have Matt one-on-one on the block, it’s a mismatch.”

Bryan-Amaning, whose previous career high was 28 points in the season-opening win over McNeese State, said the one-on-one coverage in ASU’s zone was just what the doctor ordered.

“I love it,” he said. “As long as I keep doing what I’m supposed to do (against the zone), I’ll be all right.”

Thomas scored nine of his 19 points down the stretch and finished with eight assists, ending a two-game streak of double-doubles.

Thomas did a little defensive damage of his own after halftime, holding Ty Abbott – one of two Sun Devils to finish with 20 points – to seven second-half points after switching defensive assignments.

“I don’t think we win the game (Saturday) if he doesn’t guard Abbott in the second half,” Romar said.