UW Husky men dial up some defensive intensity to hold off Stanford

SEATTLE – They were everywhere, just like old times.

On Saturday afternoon, the Washington men’s basketball team turned back the clock and dialed up the defensive intensity for a vintage performance reminiscent of the days when the Huskies harassed and hounded opponents into submission.

Washington, which forced 21 turnovers, raced out to a 22-point lead and held on at the end to capture a 67-64 victory against Stanford.

Terrell Brown Jr. scored a game-high 25 points, Jamal Bey had 17 and Emmitt Matthews Jr. 11 for the Huskies (8-7, 3-2 Pac-12), who has won three of their past four games.

Washington nearly squandered its big lead as Stanford closed the gap with a frantic finish and trailed 66-63 with 14.5 seconds left.

Needing one last defensive stop, Matthews intentionally fouled Harrison Ingram with 2.8 seconds remaining to prevent the Cardinal from attempting a game-tying 3-point shot. The Stanford forward hit the first free throw and purposely missed the second attempt, which failed to hit the rim.

The final few seconds seemed to last an eternity for an Alaska Airlines Arena crowd that erupted in cheers as the final seconds expired.

Washington was outscored 39-24 in the second half, a complete reversal from the first half.

In the first 8 minutes, the Huskies forced six turnovers and held the Cardinal to 3-for-11 shooting while surging ahead by 13. Matthews buried a 3-pointer in front of the Stanford bench to put UW ahead 22-9 with 12:59 left in the first half.

The Cardinal had no good answers against UW’s 2-3 zone, which smothered and harassed Stanford all over the court and made it nearly impossible for the opposing team to initiate its offense.

While Stanford launched errant passes into the stands, Washington hit 7 of 15 3-pointers in the first half, including a long-range shot from Bey that gave the Huskies a 39-17 lead with 5:05 left before the break. It was the largest lead of the season for UW.

Washington’s defensive dominance coupled with red-hot shooting from Bey and Matthews produced was the most impressive first-half performance for the Huskies, who led 43-25 at halftime.

Stanford (10-5, 3-2) entered the game with a four-game winning streak. The Cardinal received 13 points from backup forward Brandon Angel.