UW Overcomes Basket Issues, Coaching Blunder to Beat Oregon in OT

The ready explanation was a basket malfunction, causing a  delay for Wednesday night's Washington-Oregon basketball game played at Alaska Airlines Arena and shown nationally on ESPNU.

At one point, staffers were furiously working on both hoops, either trying to lock in a support or swapping out a net. 

Oregon finally headed for its locker room to wait out this pregame comedy. TV broadcasters Roxie Bernstein and Dan Dickau, the former Husky and Gonzaga guard, were a little incredulous while describing the situation.

Thirty-nine minutes later than scheduled, the Huskies and the Ducks tipped off in front of an extra patient crowd and things got real serious for the next two hours. It figures, these teams played five minutes longer than planned, too.

For a change, Mike Hopkins' UW basketball team finished strong in a big game, beating its rival 72-71 in overtime — ending a four-game losing streak — on Jamal Bey's lay-in with 28 seconds left in the extra session.

What got the UW (14-13 overall, 6-10 Pac-12) over the hump on this night were strong showings by freshmen guards Keyon Menifield and Koren Johnson and big man Braxton Meah.

Menifield was at his very best, coming up with a career-high 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting with 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

Playing alongside him much of the way, Johnson chipped in 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Even more encouraging, the Huskies came out and repeatedly went to their big man, lobbing the ball inside to Meah, at least early on. The 7-foot-1 junior center responded with 12 points against a fairly tall Oregon front line, all of them coming in the opening half, plus 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. 

Yet no one said this game was going to be the slightest bit easy.

Besides the pregame malfunctions, Hopkins didn't help matters when he made a huge coaching blunder early in the second half. The coach left Meah on the floor too long when Oregon (15-12, 9-7), down 30-29 at half, came out and went at the big guy in a designed manner trying to get him in foul trouble.

This strategy worked perfectly.

Predictably, Meah drew three fouls in 74 seconds before the UW could take him out, giving him four personals, and he sat down with his team trailing 41-35 and 16:25 left to play.

His absence was one reason the Ducks' 6-foot-11 senior center N'Faly Dante had his way at times for a 19-point, 13-rebound effort.

The Husky big man didn't return to the game until the 6:37 mark, with Oregon leading 56-51 and its last two field goals coming on consecutive rebound baskets by the Ducks' 7-foot sophomore Nate Bittle. 

Yet Meah made the UW competitive inside again and managed to stay on the floor, and he made his presence felt against the Ducks all the way into the extra session. 

Four different Huskies scored in that OT, with Bey alertly going to the hoop for the game-winner by driving across the key and laying the ball in. He finished with just 5, but the UW needed every one of them. 

For the home team, which is 4-0 in overtime games this season, the outcome was well worth the unexpected wait plus the extra work. 

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.