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Washington’s Pac-10 title hopes derailed

No. 10 Huskies upset by Cardinal; finish 2nd after Wildcats’ victory

Image: Washington lossAP
Washington guard Tre Simmons, left, and guard Will Conroy sit on the bench late a loss. Washington's 77-67 defeat to Stanford on Saturday kept the Huskies from earning a share of the Pac-10 title.

For Stanford (17-11, 11-7), the win was huge on the heels of an embarrassing 59-48 loss to Washington State on Thursday. The Cardinal, who have reached the NCAA tournament’s second round each of the past 10 seasons, did a lot to boost their postseason chances with the victory.

“We were embarrassed two nights ago, and we didn’t want any part of that feeling again,” Stanford coach Trent Johnson said.

Haryasz practically did it all on the day Stanford held a pregame ceremony to honor seniors Rob Little and Nick Robinson, who played crucial roles in the team’s 30-2 season a year ago when the Cardinal were ranked No. 1.

In the first half, the 6-foot-11 Haryasz dribbled the ball upcourt against Washington’s full-court press, then swished a baseline jumper moments later.

“I was really inspired,” Haryasz said. “I was pretty bummed about the Washington State game.”

Jason Haas scored a career-high 18 points and Chris Hernandez and Robinson each added 12 for the Cardinal, who kept the Huskies from reaching their most victories since the 1953 Washington team finished 28-3 and went on to the program’s only Final Four.

Washington hasn’t won at Maples since a 68-67 victory Jan. 30, 1993, and hasn’t swept its annual Bay Area trip since the ’84-85 season.

This Huskies team is accomplishing things the traditionally football-frenzied school hasn’t done since the days Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp wore purple and gold. But now Washington will have to regroup in a hurry to prepare for next weekend’s conference tournament in Los Angeles.

“We learn from our mistakes,” Nate Robinson said. “And we’ve got to learn from this game.”

Before the game, the Washington star was loose, dancing to the music of the Stanford band during warmups and thoroughly testing both baskets in renovated Maples Pavilion, which received a $30 million facelift since the Huskies’ last visit.

“We knew we were ready and focused,” he said. “We wanted to win so bad. We couldn’t knock down a shot. I know I took some terrible shots.”

Washington went 8:34 without a field goal — missing 19 straight shots — spanning halftime and faced a Stanford team that answered every Huskies’ threat.

“We got impatient for whatever reason,” Romar said. “It wasn’t a selfish thing.”

The Huskies fell behind 9-4, but responded with an 11-1 run to go ahead as Stanford missed 11 of its first 14 shots. But Washington was held scoreless over the final 5:22 of the half and trailed 31-29 at the break after Stanford closed on a 10-0 run.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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