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James Akinjo scores 26, Azuolas Tubelis has game-winner for Arizona

Washington guard Marcus Tsohonis (0) gets a handful of Arizona guard Terrell Brown Jr. (31) as he penetrates the lane in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Tucson, Ariz.  (Associated Press)
Associated Press

Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. – James Akinjo scored a career-high 26 points with seven assists, his final one a kick-out to Azuolas Tubelis to convert a baseline jumper for a 75-74 Arizona victory over Washington on Saturday.

Washington’s Quade Green was called for a charge with 18 seconds left. After a timeout by Arizona , Akinjo headed into the paint before dishing the ball to Tubelis, who with one foot on the 3-point arc hit the winner with 5.2 seconds remaining. Green’s hurried 3-point try at the buzzer was short.

Akinjo, who scored 21, 20 and 19 points in his previous three games, was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Tubelis added 16 points and 15 rebounds, Bennedict Mathurin had 10 points and 13 rebounds and Christian Koloko 11 points for the Wildcats (17-8, 11-8 Pac-12), who won their third straight game and swept the season series from UW (5-20, 4-16), which dropped its third straight in its regular-season finale.

Trailing 33-29 at halftime, Washington had the lead early in the second half before Arizona went up by eight with a 10-0 run. Washington regained the lead on Erik Stevenson’s basket with a 1 1/2 minutes remaining. Akinjo hit a 3-pointer to take back the lead before it reverted to the Huskies on two Green free throws with a minute remaining. The teams swapped possessions before Tubelis sank the winner.

UW’s Hameir Wright scored a career-high 18 points with five 3-pointers before fouling out with 2 minutes left. Green added 17 points, Marcus Tsohonis 13 and Erik Stevenson 12 . The Huskies outshot Arizona by 13% but was outrebounded 41-29, giving up 10 more offensive rebounds which led to Arizona’s 18-3 domination in second-chance points.

Arizona concludes its season at Oregon on Monday. The university announced in December it was self-imposing a postseason ban on the men’s basketball program as a result of a long-running NCAA investigation.