UW men fend off Northwestern after blowing 14-point lead

SEATTLE – The Washington men’s basketball team squandered a 14-point lead in the second half and trailed by four in the final four minutes before rallying to claim a hard-fought 76-71 victory over Northwestern.

If the Huskies didn’t win this one, then it would have been fair to wonder if they’d win another game this season.

The short-handed Wildcats were missing two of the top three leading scorers in senior guard Brooks Barnhizer (foot) and fifth-year guard Jalen Leach (knee) who collectively averaged 31 points.

Northwestern, which is winless on the road this season, also played most of the game without coach Chris Collins who collected two technical fouls and was ejected late in the first half.

The Huskies (12-11, 3-9 in Big Ten) were the beneficiaries of the Wildcats’ misfortune and snapped a four-game losing streak at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Sophomore guard Tyler Harris led the way with 18 points while senior forward Great Osobor had 16 points and nine rebounds.

DJ Davis added 13 points and clutch three-pointers and freshman guard Vazoumana Diallo finished with 10 points.

Thanks in part to Collins, Washington took control late in the first half.

With 3:28 left in the first half, he collected a technical foul and seconds later picked up a second technical. Before leaving the court, Collins continued yelling at officials and appeared to brush referee Jeffrey Anderson.

The Huskies received four foul shots and Davis drained all four to put UW up 32-22. Washington retained possession, which ended with Franck Kepnang’s offensive rebound and putback dunk to go up 34-22.

Washington was ahead 39-30 at halftime and stretched its lead to 49-35 early in the second half.

Northwestern answered with a 20-6 run to tie at 55-55 with 7:48 left.

Three minutes later, junior forward Nick Martinelli drained a three-pointer and sank a short jumper that gave the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minutes and put them up 66-62.

Trailing by a point, Osobor knifed into the lane for a layup despite being fouled and converted the ensuing free throw.

On UW’s next offensive trip, Davis drilled a three-pointer for a 71-66 lead with 1:19 left that drew cheers from the crowd of 8,064.

Martinelli scored a game-high 23 points for Northwestern, which fell to 13-11 and 4-9.

Washington heads to the Midwest next week for games at Ohio State and Penn State.