Huskies climb into first-place tie with victory

TEMPE, Ariz. – Tony Wroten patiently prodded the defense, found an opening and took off.

Seeing an opposing player slide under the basket, the freshman didn’t hesitate, launching himself into the air to throw down a rim-shaking dunk, sending the defender sprawling to the floor.

His team in need of a basket against a gritty opponent, Wroten provided an emphatic one that had even him amazed.

Wroten scored 22 points and ended a pair of rallies with three-point plays, including a dunk over Arizona State’s Jonathan Gilling, lifting Washington to a 60-54 win over the Sun Devils on Thursday night.

The Huskies finished the night in a four-way tie for first place with California, Oregon and Colorado.

“That might have been the best dunk I’ve ever had,” said Wroten.

“I wasn’t even expecting that to happen. He just moved over and I just dunked on him, I guess.”

Washington (13-7, 6-2 Pac-12) labored on offense in the first half and struggled from the perimeter all night, making just 1 of 8 from 3-point range.

Second-leading scorer Terrence Ross struggled to find his shot, missing his only two shots of the second half while going 4 of 13 from the floor.

No need to worry with Wroten on the floor.

The athletic, 6-foot-5 guard gave the Huskies a spark, hitting 9 of 12 shots, grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists.

He also had the two biggest plays of the game, the dunk over Gilling for a three-point play to put Washington up seven and a putback to make it 53-46 with just more than a minute left.

Arizona State (6-14, 2-6) had its chances before Wroten’s big plays.

The Sun Devils kept the high-scoring Huskies in check in the first half and fell into a big hole after going scoreless for more than 6 minutes to open the second, yet found a way to claw their way back behind Gilling.

He hit two of his five 3-pointers in the final 6 minutes to keep Arizona State close.

Washington 60, ASU 54

 Washington (13-7, 6-2) – Simmons 0-2 0-0 0, N’Diaye 2-5 1-6 5, Gaddy 2-6 1-2 5, Wroten 9-12 4-8 22, Ross 4-13 4-4 12, Wilcox 0-3 4-4 4, Seferian-Jenkins 2-5 0-0 4, Kemp Jr. 0-0 0-0 0, Gant 1-2 5-7 8. Totals 20-48 19-31 60.

Arizona St. (6-14, 2-6) – Felix 2-7 2-3 7, Creekmur 0-4 0-0 0, Gilling 6-16 3-4 20, Pateev 4-7 0-0 8, Colvin 4-10 1-2 10, Cain 0-2 0-0 0, Heller 0-0 0-0 0, Bachynski 3-5 3-7 9, Newton 0-0 0-0 0, Whitmore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 9-16 54.

Halftime – ASU 24-22. 3-Point Goals – UW 1-8 (Gant 1-2, Gaddy 0-1, Wilcox 0-1, Ross 0-4), ASU 7-23 (Gilling 5-12, Colvin 1-3, Felix 1-4, Creekmur 0-4). Fouled Out – N’Diaye, Seferian-Jenkins. Rebounds – UW 35 (N’Diaye 8), ASU 34 (Bachynski 13). Assists – UW 11 (Gaddy 5), ASU 13 (Colvin 7). Total Fouls – UW 18, ASU. 21. A – 6,794.