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Gonzaga Basketball

Even in defeat, UW freshman Markelle Fultz continues to lead Huskies

Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss (5) defends against a shot by Washington guard Markelle Fultz (20) during the first half of a NCAA men's basketball game, Wed., Dec. 7, 2016, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Michael Gulledge michaelg@spokesman.com,

Shooting 30 percent is not the ideal game plan to defeat a top-10 team on the road.

The University of Washington had their lowest single-game shooting percentage of the season at 30 percent, but freshman Markelle Fultz scored 25 points to stand out as the Huskies leading scorer Wednesday night. Noah Dickerson was second on the team in scoring, finishing the night with 12 points.

Fultz is the only player in the nation to have single-game highs of 35 points, 14 rebounds, and ten assists.

In his first seven games at UW, Fultz had scored 30 or more points twice and led the team in scoring five times entering Wednesday’s matchup against Gonzaga.

“He loves to play,” said Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar. “He’s a pretty versatile guard. With his size he does a lot of things on the floor.”

Fultz scored 19 of his points in the second half, despite missing two minutes due to a cramp.

Gonzaga’s defense limited Fultz to six points in the first half.

“We made him work for his shots. He had it pretty tough, we knew where he was at all times,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.

Nigel Williams-Goss and Silas Melson split time guarding the 2016 McDonald’s All-American.

“He’s my matchup tonight and I just tried to do the best I could to execute what the coaches wanted me to do and, you know, just try to play to the best of my ability,” said Williams-Goss.