Keion Brooks Jr. scored 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor and Washington held on to earn its first Pac-12 victory of the season, defeating Oregon State 79-72 Saturday afternoon in Seattle.
Sahvir Wheeler had 16 points and three assists for the Huskies (9-6, 1-3 Pac-12). Wilhelm Breidenbach came off the bench to score 11 points and grab a game-high eight rebounds and fellow reserve Koren Johnson scored 10.
Oregon State’s Jordan Pope led all players with 29 points and five assists. Tyler Bilodeau added 21 points and seven boards for the Beavers (9-6, 1-3).
The Huskies had blown second-half leads of six points or more in each of their first three conference games, but escaped Saturday.
After leading by five at the intermission, the Huskies extended their advantage to as many as 12 points, 71-59, with 3:36 remaining.
The Beavers responded with a 6-0 run, causing UW coach Mike Hopkins to call a timeout with 2:09 to go.
Breidenbach made two free throws to snap the Beavers’ streak, but Pope made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to pull OSU within 75-71 with 35 seconds left.
Johnson and Moses Wood each made a pair of free throws in the final 26 seconds to secure the victory.
The Huskies led 38-33 after a first half that featured some big runs.
Pope made a pair of 3-pointers in a 9-0 spurt that gave the Beavers a 9-2 lead.
But Oregon State got into early foul trouble, with starters KC Ibekwe and Pope both picking up two.
With Pope on the bench, the Huskies put together a 16-0 run to take a 32-21 lead. Anthony Holland and Wood made 3-pointers during that stretch.
Pope fed Josiah Lake II for a 3-pointer from the left corner to end Washington’s streak and Bilodeau made a tip-in at the buzzer to get the Beavers within five at the half.
Washington’s starting center, Franck Kepnang, missed his fifth consecutive game with a knee injury.
–Field Level Media
