Huskies fend off Sun Devils' furious comeback

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- What appeared to be a Washington rout early

on turned into a struggle for the Huskies. Little Nate Robinson

made sure they came out on top.

Robinson, a 5-foot-9 junior, scored six of his 29 points in

overtime, and Washington (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today; No. 14 AP) survived Arizona State's comeback

to beat the Sun Devils 95-90 Thursday night in the first round of

the Pac-10 tournament.

"That is one of the best No. 7 seeds, I guarantee you, of any

conference tournament," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We

did not lose our composure. We stayed together."

The second-seeded Huskies (25-5) will play Stanford in

the second semifinal on Friday night. No. 8 Arizona and Oregon

State will meet in the opener.

Washington made 14 of its first 17 shots including 6-of-6 from

3-point range in taking an 18-point first-half lead. As it turned

out, they didn't clinch the victory until Tre Simmons made two free

throws with 13.5 seconds remaining in overtime.

Kevin Kruger's 3-pointer with 4:14 remaining gave ASU an 86-85

lead -- its second of the game. But Brandon Roy made two free throws

and Robinson added four straight points to put the Huskies on top

91-86 with 2:09 left.

Pac-10 player of the year Ike Diogu hit two free throws before

Robinson made a bank shot with 1:22 to play, putting Washington

ahead 93-88. Diogu made two more foul shots with 15.9 seconds left

for ASU's last points.

Simmons added 17 points, Roy scored 12 and freshman Joel Smith

added 11 for the Huskies.

"It lasted longer than we might have liked, but you always

learn from these situations," Romar said. "That team, when they

get going from the outside, they're dangerous offensively. Some

people think it's just the Ike Diogu show."

Kruger equaled his career high with 22 points and Steve Moore

also scored 22 for ASU (18-13), which lost its fourth straight

game. Diogu, playing the entire 45 minutes, had 21 points, 13

rebounds and a Pac-10 tournament-record five blocked shots. Bryson

Krueger added 15 points for the Sun Devils.

Moore made a layup with less than a second left in regulation to

tie it at 83 and force overtime. Moore scored with 14.8 seconds to

play to make it 81-all before Hakeem Rollins dunked with 7.1

seconds remaining, giving the Huskies a two-point lead.

Moore scored all but two of his points in the second half.

"I didn't want to lose," he said when asked why he played so

well after halftime. "I'm a senior. Outside of the NIT, there's no

more basketball for me."

Regarding his game-tying shot that forced overtime, Moore said:

"I really didn't know the clock. I was just trying to get to the

basket as fast as I could."

Said Robinson: "We were in a scramble situation. Somehow, he

just got a wide-open layup."

Washington shot 30-of-67 including 6-of-12 from 3-point range

while ASU was 28-of-64 and 10-of-24 from outside the arc. The

Huskies outrebounded the Sun Devils 46-32.

Robinson, who equaled his season high and came up two points shy

of his career high, shot 9-of-16 from the floor including 3-of-5

from 3-point range and 8-of-9 from the foul line. He also had seven

rebounds and two steals.

ASU coach Rob Evans said his team played well enough to win.

"We've played well all year long," he said. "Out of 31 games,

I would say 27 of them we played extremely well."

Washington had what appeared to be a comfortable 14-point lead

when Moore scored 12 points during a 23-9 run that tied the game

with 5:35 remaining.

Bobby Jones made a free throw, and Roy added two baskets to give

the Huskies a five-point lead. ASU drew within two points before

Roy scored four more points to put Washington on top 81-75 with

2:18 remaining.

Two free throws by Diogu and another pair by Krueger made it

81-79 with 50.4 seconds left. Then came the wild finish to

regulation.

Washington made its first 17 free throws before Robinson missed

with 12:47 remaining. The Huskies finished 27-of-32 from the foul

line while ASU was 20-of-28.

It was 52-37 at halftime. Washington's 52 points were the most

scored against ASU in a first half this season -- six more than the

previous high.