Washington Huskies Basketball: UCLA Wins 59-57 With Buzzer Beater

The biggest question heading into this one: Would the Huskies build upon the progress seen in last week’s win over ASU? The answer? A fairly resounding no. At least not right now. This was an ugly, ugly game that included 19 Husky turnovers, 42% shooting from the field, including 2-15 from three-point land. Not to mention 7-12 from the charity stripe.

Feb 7, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Kyle Anderson (5) rebounds against Washington Huskies forward Desmond Simmons (30) during the game at the Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, Washington has to get a certain amount of credit for how badly the Bruins struggled on offense, but it’s really unclear how much was UW and how much was UCLA also playing some pretty terrible offensive basketball up until the game-winner from Larry Drew II as time expired. Really the only reason the game stayed close at all was that the Huskies dominated the boards 44 to 34, mostly due to a career-high 18 rebounds from Aziz N’Diaye. And, of course, the 33% shooting from the Bruins.

As for the two young players that were so instrumental in the win over the Sun Devils, Sean Kemp Jr was solid with 10 points, and his 4 rebounds weren’t really his fault; N’Diaye was just grabbing everything. Andrews, however, was a non-factor with 2 points on 1-5 shooting. Suggs and Wilcox both struggled from the field, continuing the cold shooting for both of them over the last several contests.

Gaddy played one of his best games of the year with an efficient 13 points and 8 assists, but the solid effort just wasn’t enough, especially with Larry Drew II deciding to end it all with a clutch jumper as time expired. If UW had cut down the turnovers and converted free throw opportunities they probably could have overcome the terrible shooting, but they didn’t, and as a result the NIT looks more likely than ever.