#16 Washington Huskies Hold Off #15 Oklahoma Sooners 69-67
If the game was 48 minutes long like in the NBA, UW would have lost. Heck, if it was 41 minutes they probably would have lost.
Early in the game, UW’s transition offense lead by Nigel Williams-Goss was simply unstoppable. Shawn Kemp Jr. consistently beat OU big men down the floor, and Mike Anderson and Donaven Dorsey hit four fast-break triples in a five-minute stretch.
The Washington Huskies led the Oklahoma Sooners 37-17 with 5:11 to go in the first half. From that point on, the game wasn’t UW vs OU. It was OU vs the clock.
Fortunately for the Dawgs, Oklahoma ran out of time.
The Huskies would go on to shoot 10-28 from the field, 0-4 from behind the arc, 12-20 from the free throw line, and turn the ball over 11 times. OU would shoot 19-38, 4-9, and 8-11, with four turnovers.
It’s hard to believe you can win while getting dominated like that for 5/8ths of the game, but that goes to show just how dominant this Husky basketball team is capable of playing when they are locked in.
Jernard Jarreau and Mike Anderson in particular played fantastic all-around games. Jarreau shot scored 12 points on 6-9 shooting, grabbed six boards and held 58% shooter TaShawn Thomas to 4-10 from the floor and only four rebounds.
He also finally showed the confidence in his jumper that we have been waiting to see all year. The Sooners were content to play off of him at the three-point line and he was content to take, and make, the one-dribble pull-up.
Dec 20, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington Huskies guard Mike Anderson (11) shoots against the defense of Oklahoma Sooners forward TaShawn Thomas (35) during a game at Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Anderson was the one Husky guard who didn’t seem to be bothered by the size and athleticism of the Oklahoma defenders. Andrew Andrews shot 1-8, and Williams-Goss shot 3-8 with four turnovers, including three in a stretch of six possessions.
But Anderson had one of the best games of his Husky career with 11 points, 4-7 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and one huge block. That switching-hands layup to the right was reminiscent of a former Husky shooting guard by the name of Brandon Roy.
He has had better numbers than that before, but I think this is the biggest game of his career because he put up some monster numbers in preseason last year, but then faded during conference play against good teams.
The fact that he played the way he did against a team like Oklahoma is a good sign for Anderson and the Huskies.
UW will have to do a better job of stopping runs for the opposing team. Once Oklahoma got the momentum, late in the first half, the Huskies were never able to recover. They won’t get away with that on a consistent basis. Regaining momentum shouldn’t be too difficult for a team with the experienced backcourt that the Dawgs have.
But that is a worry for another day.
UW got a HUGE non-conference win and moved to 10-0 on the year. Lorenzo Romar and the Dawgs could very well be a top-10 team in the country when the rankings come out Monday morning.