Huskies drop loss to No. 17 UCLA to open final week of regular season
The final week of the regular season didn’t quite open the way the Washington Huskies had hoped.
In a rare early-week contest — which was rescheduled to make up what was originally their Pac-12 home opener postponed in December — the Huskies had a lead on visiting UCLA at the break.
They looked evenly matched with the No. 17 Bruins early on Monday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
But, a late-season upset didn’t play out, and the Huskies have now lost five of their last six.
UCLA slipped away in the second half behind a career performance from Jaime Jaquez Jr., and eventually rolled to a 77-66 win, sweeping the regular season series between the two programs.
Jaquez finished with a game-high 30 points on efficient 11-of-17 shooting, and scored nine of those points during UCLA’s decisive run to early in the second half.
UCLA (22-6, 13-5 Pac-12) scored on six possessions before the Huskies answered, taking the game’s final lead on Jaylen Clark’s transition layup with 17:35 remaining in the game.
“They came out with some fire,” Huskies guard Terrell Brown Jr. said. “We came out a little bit flat.”
The Bruins ultimately more than doubled their first-half production, scoring 52 points to the Huskies’ 37.
They continued to push their lead higher as part of a 20-4 run, and made it a double-digit advantage on Jaquez’s short jumper that rolled in five minutes later to make it 43-33.
“It was an uphill battle from there,” Brown said.
UW (14-14, 9-9) never cut the lead lower than 10 points after that, scoring only twice on its first 11 trips down the floor in the half as UCLA pulled away, and finished shooting 26-of-60 (43.3 percent).
“We’ve got to be able to score,” Huskies coach Mike Hopkins said. “I felt the second half was just, we couldn’t stop them and then we had some shots that we’ve got to be able to knock down to keep it closer, to keep the crowd involved.”
The Bruins rallied from their earlier shooting woes to finish 26-of-56 (46.4 percent), while building a comfortable margin despite missing leading scorer Johnny Juzang (17 points per game), who was out with an ankle injury.
Jules Bernard (12 points) and Clark (nine) were UCLA’s other top contributors offensively, while Jacquez also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Following a slow start, Brown — who continues to lead the Pac-12 in scoring — regrouped with a 14-point second half to lead the Huskies with 20.
Jamal Bey added 14 points, while Langston Wilson finished 4-of-4 off the bench with two 3-pointers for 11.
The Huskies were without two of their regular starters much of the way.
Daejon Davis went to the floor following a contested shot with 5:48 remaining in the first half, and left the court with an injury moments after. He later returned to the Huskies’ bench, but never re-entered the game.
This was Davis’ second game back after missing a five-game stretch with a shoulder injury. Hopkins said postgame Davis is considered day-to-day.
UW also spent much of the second half without starting forward Emmitt Matthews Jr., who headed to the bench after drawing his fourth foul at the 12:35 mark, then his fifth with six minutes left.
Both teams endured long scoring droughts in the first half — and more than once. Midway through, neither side had more than five baskets, and the Huskies were holding on to a one-point edge.
Neither team led by more than five points in the opening half after the Bruins opened their early 5-0 lead on their first two possessions. The lead changed nine times before the break, and the two teams were tied twice.
The Bruins shot only 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) in the half trying to solve UW’s zone, but Jaquez boosted them on offense with his 13 points, making five of his six attempts.
UW fared better, finishing 12-of-25 (48 percent), which was enough to open up the slim lead by the break. After missing his first five attempts, Brown scored on three consecutive possessions across the final 3:06 to give the Huskies the lead.
Bey was the only Huskies player in double digits at the break with 10, and his jumper with 1:13 left gave UW the 29-25 edge it carried into halftime.
The Huskies have two games remaining before the Pac-12 Tournament begins next week in Las Vegas, and currently sit tied for sixth in the conference with Washington State.
Oregon was responsible for UW’s most lopsided loss this season last month in Eugene and visits Seattle on Thursday night. The Huskies host Oregon State, who they bested by double digits in Corvallis last month, Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.
“We’ve got two great opportunities left,” Hopkins said. “You want to be playing your best basketball. We’ve got to learn from this. There’s not a lot of practice time, it’s more so getting their minds right and getting our plan right, and then they’ve got to go out and execute that plan.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Huskies drop loss to No. 17 UCLA to open final week of regular season."
