Washington Huskies Win Pac-10 Tournament On Isaiah Thomas’ Buzzer Beater

Isaiah Thomas hit a step-back jumper at the buzzer to give Washington a 77-75 overtime win over Arizona to win the Pac-10 Championship Game. Thomas crossed over and stepped back just inside the three-point line to score his 28th points of the game on the shot.

The Wildcats had tied the game at 75 on a three-pointer by Kevin Parrom with 20 seconds to go. The Huskies elected to call timeout and gave the ball to Thomas, who did the rest.

Arizona leads Washington, 36-33 at halftime of the 2011 Pac-10 Tournament Championship game. Isaiah Thomas is dominating for Washington, with 19 points, but Arizona has the lead with a more balanced effort.

Thomas scored 19 first-half points, slicing his way through the Arizona defense. Unfortunately for the Huskies, most of his teammates have not performed well. The Huskies stifled Arizona briefly with a zone defense, but Arizona figured it out and started hitting threes.

On Saturday, the 2011 Pac-10 tournament will conclude when Washington and Arizona meet in the championship game (6 p.m. Eastern, CBS). At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Huskies will look to win the tournament for the second consecutive year. Arizona, meanwhile, has a chance at a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament with a victory.

This will be the third meeting of the 2010-11 season between the two teams. On January 20, Isaiah Thomas’ double-double (22 points, 10 assists) led the Huskies to an 85-68 victory. The second time around, on February 19, the Wildcats answered with an 87-86 victory, to which Derrick Williams contributed 26 points, 11 rebounds, and a game-saving block in the final seconds.