Huskies remain tied for first place

Terrence Ross led four Washington players in double figures with 18 points, and the Huskies stayed tied for first place in the Pac-12 with a 77-69 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night at Seattle.

Washington (18-8, 11-3) used a dominant, albeit sometimes sloppy, run late in the first half to take an 18-point lead at the break, then coasted to its seventh win in the last eight games despite some second-half lapses.

Ross continued his mastery of the final 20 minutes, hitting 4 of 5 shots and scoring 11 points in the second half.

Carrick Felix led Arizona State (8-18, 4-10) with 13 points, but the Sun Devils lost for the fourth time in their last five.

Washington remained tied with California for the Pac-12 lead after the Golden Bears held on for an 86-83 win over Oregon, setting up Saturday’s showdown against Arizona.

The last three games between the Wildcats and Huskies have come down to the final possession, with Washington winning two of those, including 69-67 late last month in Tucson.

But Thursday was far from the crisp effort Lorenzo Romar would have liked to see from his squad. Washington seemed disinterested for stretches and committed 15 turnovers that offset shooting 49 percent.

C.J. Wilcox, who played sparingly in the first meeting against the Sun Devils, had 14 points for Washington. Tony Wroten added 13 and Aziz N’Diaye scored 12.

Washington put away any doubt with a 17-4 run to close the first half that was as ugly as it was effective. Washington and Arizona State combined to turn it over six times in a 90-second span, but it was the Huskies getting the easy baskets that turned a five-point lead into an 18-point advantage at halftime.

Washington shot 61 percent in the first half, and if not for 10 turnovers, the Huskies might have led by 25 by halftime.

Arizona State scored just two baskets the final 7 minutes of the half, missing 10 of its final 12 shots. Darnell Gant scored all nine of his first-half points in a 3-minute span that included an open 3-pointer from the corner and a follow dunk after an N’Diaye miss.

Washington’s lead grew to 24 early in the second half on Desmond Simmons’ put-back, and then the Huskies simply got careless.

The Sun Devils put a little bit of angst and grumbling in the crowd with a 16-4 spurt the cut Washington’s lead to 12 as the Huskies had just one field goal in 5 minutes. Those concerns quickly went away after Wilcox scored five straight points, and the lead was back to 17 with 9:30 remaining.

Washington was finally able to exploit the Sun Devils’ zone defense from the perimeter after failing to do so in the first meeting in Tempe. Washington finished with eight 3-pointers after making just one in the first matchup.

Arizona State shot 49 percent but committed 19 turnovers.

California 86, Oregon 83: Justin Cobbs scored a career-high 28 points, leading the Golden Bears to a victory over the Ducks at Berkeley, Calif.

Harper Kamp added 20 points for the Golden Bears, while David Kravish scored 13 as Cal remained tied at the top of the Pac-12 with Washington, which beat Arizona State on Thursday.

Devoe Joseph scored a career-high 33 points for Oregon.

Carlos Emory scored 11 for the Ducks.

Stanford 87, Oregon State 82: Chasson Randle matched his season high with 24 points, Aaron Bright added 20 and the Cardinal beat the Beavers at Stanford, Calif.

Anthony Brown had 11 points, and Josh Owens added nine points and recorded his 500th career rebound for the Cardinal.

Jared Cunningham scored 22 points and Roberto Nelson 19 for the Beavers, who lost their third straight. Devon Collier had 13 points and Angus Brandt 11.

Oregon State outscored the Cardinal 17-8 over the final 7:36 of the first half to take a 41-40 lead into intermission.