Huskies fall short against Wildcats

Washington was able to hold its own against No. 1 Arizona in the first half, hustling past the Wildcats for offensive rebounds and scoring at the rim.

Once Arizona turned up the defensive pressure, the Huskies had no chance of keeping up.

Washington went cold down the stretch after keeping up with Arizona well into the second half, missing all seven of its 3-point attempts in the second half of a 71-62 loss Saturday.

“When they took the lead, I feel that we got away from the things we were trying to do defensively and offensively,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We had to hit home runs every time we took possession of the ball and I don’t think we accomplished that.”

Washington (9-6, 1-1 Pac-12) outrebounded Arizona (15-0, 2-0) in the first half and hit 15 of 27 shots.

The Huskies struggled against Arizona’s pressure in the second half, though, hitting 10 of 33 shots while being outrebounded by nine.

C.J. Wilcox led UW with 20 points. Perris Blackwell had 12 points and 12 rebounds. He knocked around Kaleb Tarczewski inside, helping to hold Arizona’s center to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.

“When you get down a couple of points, a lot of guys try to step up and be the hero and start rushing things,” Wilcox said. “We needed to stick to the game plan and execute all the way through.”

Arizona did and is now off to its best start since the 1931-32 team opened with a school-record 16 straight wins. Nick Johnson had 24 points and Aaron Gordon scored 18 points for UA.