Huskies Pull Off Overtime Win Over Zarragoza

In the second game of their Spanish tour, the Husky basketball team held on for a theatrical 74-73 win in overtime over Zaragoza.  The Spanish team led 29-23 at halftime, and continued to lead 53-47 with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies buckled down on defense and stayed in it, and as time expired, Senior point guard Abdul Gaddy forced overtime with a half-court shot to tie it up 66-66. Shawn Kemp Jr’s jump hook gave the Huskies the lead for good and they held on for a difficult, inspired win that unfortunately went untelevised.

Andrew Andrews and Scott Suggs each finished with 13 points, while Gaddy led the team with 17, N’Diaye had 12 to go along with 14 boards, and Wilcox had 9 points. The Huskies also managed to execute their offense significantly cleaner, finishing with 16 assists to 21 turnovers as opposed to the 12 assists and 28 turnovers of Monday’s sloppy win against Tarragonia.   While neither ratio is exactly favorable, it is important to keep in mind that Washington is going up against experienced professional teams that often feature former college players, such as Zaragoza’s Michael Roll, who played at UCLA.

It is always difficult to know what real information can be gleaned from these international wins, as we are not able to watch the games and do not fully understand the level of competition, but I believe the sort of gritty, hard fought victory that the Huskies just earned is incredibly positive no matter what the circumstances.  It is also worth noting that in both games, team captain Abdul Gaddy has led the team in scoring, and in today’s game he hit the half court buzzer beater that made the win possible.  It is impossible to tell if this is a sign that he will carry over that sort of offensive effectiveness to the regular season, but it certainly can’t hurt his chances.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Gaddy, a player constantly dogged by injury and inflated expectations, finally put it all together on the court for his final season?

Here’s the box score.