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Huskies nearly blow big lead, beat Seattle

Associated Press

SEATTLE – Jaylen Nowell scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half, Noah Dickerson added 13 and Washington nearly blew a 20-point lead before holding off crosstown rival Seattle 70-62 on Sunday night.

Washington (7-3) was back on the court for the first time since its near-upset of No. 1 Gonzaga earlier in the week, losing 81-79 on Rui Hachimura’s free-throw line jumper with less than a second remaining. The loss showed Washington is capable of playing with anyone in the country, but the matchup against the Redhawks was a test of whether the Huskies could avoid a trend of playing to the level of their competition.

For the first 30 minutes, the Huskies overwhelmed the Redhawks before getting sloppy in the final 10 minutes as what appeared to be a blowout became a one-possession game into the final minute. Washington led 58-38 with 13:21 left only to watch Seattle score 24 of the next 28 points to pull within two points twice in the final two minutes. That would be as close as the Redhawks would get.

Morgan Means led Seattle (9-3) with 21 points and Myles Carter added 15 despite playing with foul trouble most of the night.

Leading 41-34 at halftime, Washington started the second half on a 13-2 run to seemingly take control. Carter scored the opening basket of the second half for Seattle before the Redhawks went silent for the next five minutes. Carter picked up his fourth foul with 18:14 left and Washington’s nine-point lead quickly ballooned to 20. Seattle started the second half with 2-of-17 shooting and had a pair of five-minute scoring droughts.

But Washington got complacent and its lead was trimmed to 62-60 with two minutes left after Carter scored in the lane to cap a 24-4 run by Seattle that included 14 points from Means.

Dickerson and Dominic Green sandwiched baskets around Carter scoring for a 66-62 Washington lead with a minute left. Carter again got the ball underneath but couldn’t convert while being challenged by Hameir Wright and Washington made four free throws in the final seconds.