In a physical battle that showed the increasing intensity of the crosstown rivalry, Seattle University nearly came out ahead, but the University of Washington held off the Redhawks every time they got close, eventually pulling out a 91-83 victory Tuesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) notched a double-double to lead the Redhawks with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Sterling Carter (Seattle, Wash.) hit four three-pointers on his way to earning 15 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Cervante Burrell (Sacramento, Calif.) contributed eight points and six assists, and Eric Wallace (Winston-Salem, N.C.) added six points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, and two steals.
"The most important thing for us is to be aggressive. It's more of our mindset than strategy you do. For us, we press all the time. It would be diminishing returns to come in here and change what we do. I just felt like we needed to be aggressive, go make plays, get the game going up and down and let the chips fall as they may," Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) hit the opening basket of the game, but that would prove to be Seattle U's only lead of the night, as Washington went on a 10-2 run to take a six-point lead. That was erased by back-to-back three-pointers from Broussard and Carter, but the Huskies reestablished the advantage, slowly building out to an 11-point lead at 32-21.
Carter hit three free throws, and then another of his three-pointers was followed by a long distance basket from Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) and a jumper by Gavin Gilmore (Pasco, Wash.) to cut the Redhawk deficit to four at 38-34. Washington closed out the first half on a 12-3 scoring run over the last three minutes to take a 50-37 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Down 57-44, Seattle U stormed back, outscoring the Huskies 18-5 over a five-minute span to pull into a 62-62 tie with 11 minutes remaining in the second half. A traditional three-point play by Aziz N'Diaye and a jumper from Desmond Simmons gave Washington a five-point lead, but the Redhawks again came back, with Broussard pulling down a missed free throw and going back up with the bucket to create a 70-70 tie with 6:49 left in regulation.
Trent hit a three-pointer to bring the Redhawks within one, and Flora made one of two free throws on a flagrant foul that put the game into a 76-76 tie. However, Seattle U could not score to take the lead, and C.J. Wilcox converted on 3-of-4 free throw attempts to give the Huskies the lead for good.
After committing 10 turnovers in the first half that led to 12 Washington points, Seattle U maintained its full-court press in the second half, causing the Huskies to commit 11 turnovers after halftime that led to 12 Redhawk points. The Huskies earned more second-chance points (23-12) thanks to 20 offensive rebounds, and Washington also went 37-of-59 (62.7%) from the free throw line, while Seattle U went 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the charity stripe.
"They really picked up their press in the second half. I thought in the first half we had great ball movement and we continued to improve in that way. Give Seattle U a lot of credit tonight, they had a great belief and that is what you have to have to win this game," Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Washington (10-6) was led by Wilcox, who hit four three-pointers and 9-of-11 from the free throw line to finish the night with 25 points. Tony Wroten collected 24 points, 16 of them in the second half, and six assists, while N'Diaye notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Seattle U wore throwback jerseys that harkened back to the 1970s to recognize the players who faced Washington during that decade, as well as to honor Carl Ervin and Keith Harrell, players from that era who passed away recently.
Seattle University (3-11) will begin a three-game homestand Friday, Jan. 13, against Utah Valley starting at 7:10 p.m. at KeyArena. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game live on 710 ESPN Seattle, beginning with the pregame show at 7 p.m.