SEATTLE (AP) — Marcus Tsohonis scored a career-high 27 off the bench, Erik Stevenson added 17 points before fouling out, and Washington picked up its first conference win of the season beating Colorado 84-80 on Wednesday night.
Tsohonis was brilliant providing the Huskies (2-11, 1-7 Pac-12) a needed punch of scoring off the bench. He topped his career-high of 24 points set just a couple of weeks ago in a loss to Stanford.
Tsohonis also hit four of Washington’s 12 3-pointers, needing every bit of the outside shooting to counter being dominated on the interior by the Buffaloes.
Jamal Bey scored 14 points and Quade Green added 11 for the Huskies.
Jeriah Horne scored a season-high 24 for Colorado, but missed an open 3-pointer with seven seconds left that could have tied the game. Colorado (11-4, 5-3) saw its four-game win streak snapped and likely lost a chance to move into The AP Top 25 next week.
Evan Battey added 18 points, but leading scorer McKinley Wright IV was held to 12 points.
Mired in an eight-game losing streak, the Huskies were competitive against a quality opponent for the second straight game. Washington nearly upset UCLA last Saturday on the road. This time, they rallied from a 10-point deficit late in the first half against the Buffaloes.
Down 55-48, Washington scored 10 of the next 12 points and took its first lead since early in the first half on Bey’s 3 with 13 minutes left. From there the teams exchanged the lead seven times over the next 10 minutes. Wright’s two free throws with 4:23 left pulled the Buffaloes even at 73-73 after drawing the fifth foul against Stevenson.
Washington finally separated after consecutive baskets from Tsohonis, the second coming off a turnover with 1:04 left and gave the Huskies an 81-75 lead. Washington hit enough free throws and withstood Horne’s open look to tie, and was able to celebrate its first conference win.
THE TAKEAWAY
Colorado: The Buffaloes have been a solid 3-point shooting team this season, making nearly 37% of their attempts coming into the game. But the touch from deep was missing as Colorado went 1 of 18 on 3s. The perimeter struggles were balanced by easy baskets inside. The Buffaloes held a 42-24 advantage on points in the paint.
Washington: The Huskies were thumped by Colorado in a game that didn’t count in the conference standings last month in Las Vegas. Colorado won that game 92-69 after jumping out to a 52-30 halftime lead.
UP NEXT
Colorado: The Buffaloes will face Washington State on Saturday.
Washington: The Huskies will host Utah on Sunday.
