The No. 8 Arizona Wildcats went down to the wire with the Washington Huskies on Thursday night in Seattle, but were able to escape Alaska Airlines Arena with a 57-53 victory.
No. 8 Arizona vs. Washington final score: Wildcats defeat Huskies, 57-53
Arizona and Washington both shot horribly on Thursday in front of a howling Bill Walton, but it was the Wildcats who came out on top thanks to a solid second half from Nick Johnson.
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
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The Wildcats trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, and faced a five-point deficit at the break after a dismal first-half shooting performance. However, Nick Johnson, who shot just 1-for-5 in the first half, came alive after the break, scoring 13 points for the Wildcats down the stretch despite the team continuing to shoot poorly as a whole.
Meanwhile, Washington (12-9, 4-4 Pac-12) had trouble finishing on the offensive end as well, failing to capitalize on several second-chance opportunities late in the game. Although four players scored in double figures, the team's two leading scorers, C.J. Wilcox and Scott Suggs, combined to go 7 of 25 from the floor, including 1 of 9 from three-point range.
Johnson finished with 15 points, which led all scorers. Kaleb Tarczewski pitched in 10 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (18-2, 6-2 Pac-12), who also had four players finish in double-digits in scoring.
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