Sporadic Huskies fall again
Another slow first half too much to overcome vs. USC
SEATTLE – Three weeks ago the Washington Huskies unwittingly fell into a pattern of inconsistency that has sent them stumbling into the postseason.
In the past six games, they have followed every win with a defeat.
They won at Arizona State before losing at Arizona.
They beat Seattle University and fell to Washington State.
On Thursday the Huskies toppled UCLA so you can imagine what happened Saturday against USC.
Washington tried to break the pattern with a furious second-half rally, but the comeback fell short, and the Huskies fell 62-60 in the regular-season finale.
It wasn’t the way UW’s three seniors – Justin Holiday, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton – wanted to say goodbye to their fans.
Holiday failed to score and missed six shots. Bryan-Amaning tallied 11 points, but he had difficulty slowing down Alex Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic.
Overton, who committed to USC before spurning the Trojans and signing with the Huskies, nearly penned a storybook ending while leading a comeback that fell short.
Washington (20-10, 11-7) trailed USC 36-26 at halftime because the Huskies missed five of six 3-pointers and only attempted three free throws.
USC (18-13, 10-8) connected on half of its 28 shots before the break.
Slow starts have plagued the Huskies in the past three games. They’ve trailed at intermission in each game and they’re averaging 22.3 points during the span.
On Thursday, Washington recovered in the second half and blew away UCLA in the second half.
This time the Huskies made a furious rally in the second half.
Washington trailed 42-28 when it began to press full court, speed up the tempo and drop into a 2-3 zone to protect the rim against Vucevic and Stepheson.
The Huskies fought back and closed to 60-56 with 13.7 seconds left when Overton sank a layup.
On the ensuing possession, Donte Smith made two free throws to put USC ahead 62-56 before Isaiah Thomas and Scott Suggs sank layups in the final seconds.
The Huskies tried to foul, but USC ran out the clock to preserve the upset.
Thomas finished with 16 points, Overton had 15 and Suggs 14.
Jio Fontan led all scorers with 20 points. Vucevic had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Stepheson had 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Huskies, the runaway preseason favorite, finished third in the league race. Washington is the No. 3 seed and it will face No. 6 Washington State on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at Staples Center. The Cougars are the only team to sweep UW this season.