Pac-12 men: Huskies snap losing skid
When the openings were there, Washington’s Dejounte Murray would attack. He would slip and slither his way into the gaps of Stanford’s zone defense and while he didn’t score every time, he found the bottom of the net enough for the Huskies to snap their losing skid.
“He was born with some shiftiness and there are not a lot of people that have that like that,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Murray carried Washington with 25 points on a night Pac-12 leading scorer Andrew Andrews was limited by a knee strain, and Washington snapped its four-game losing streak with a 64-53 win over Stanford on Saturday in Seattle.
Marquese Chriss added 11 and the Huskies picked up a needed victory to keep its slim NCAA tournament hopes alive, despite Andrews failing to score in double figures for just the second time this season. Andrews, the Pac-12 leader in scoring at 20.4 points, finished with eight points, all coming at the free-throw line.
Romar said after the game that Andrews suffered a strained MCL in his knee in Washington’s loss to California on Thursday and did not practice Friday.
“He was a little limited. We told him to use his head and he came out in that second half and was like a maestro,” Romar said.
The Huskies kept their slim hopes for an at-large berth alive by rebounding from four losses that came by a combined 17 points. But Washington still likely needs a split next week against the Oregon schools.
And a win over Stanford was a must.
Murray made up for an off-day by Andrews and fellow perimeter shooters David Crisp and Dominic Green. The trio was a combined 0-of-18 shooting and Washington was just 3 of 22 on 3-point attempts.
But Murray could not be slowed. He made 10 of 14 shots, the majority of those driving to the basket when he found openings in Stanford’s defense. He also grabbed nine rebounds and had a key assist on Malik Dime’s dunk in the closing minutes that helped extend Washington’s lead. Dime finished with 10 points.
Murray topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time in conference play and sixth time this season, and he was quick to give credit to Andrews.
“(Andrews) didn’t really care about scoring as you can tell and he was facilitating the whole game,” Murray said.
Rosco Allen led Stanford with 20 points, but no other Cardinal scored in double figures. Stanford saw its two-game win streak end and committed 20 turnovers, the most in conference play.
No. 16 Oregon 91, Oregon State 81: Freshman guard Tyler Dorsey matched his season high with 25 points, and No. 16 Ducks regained a share of the Pac-12 lead with a victory over the Beavers in Eugene, Oregon.
Dillon Brooks added 17 points and Elgin Cook had 16 for Oregon, who tied a school record with their 23rd consecutive home win. Oregon and No. 12 Arizona have a one-game lead on Utah atop the conference standings with four games left in the regular season.
UCLA 77, Colorado 53: Isaac Hamilton scored 22 points and the Bruins ran away from a cold-shooting the Buffaloes 77-53 in Los Angeles. Tony Parker scored 16 points and Bryce Alford added 13 for UCLA, which moved into a tie for eighth place with four league games remaining. The Bruins shot 50 percent, making 11-of-20 3-pointers. They won only the third time in eight games.
Colorado lost its fourth straight road game and tied Washington for sixth place.