Overtime and out

WASHINGTON, D.C. — If it's possible, this one might have cut even deeper than the last time Washington lost to Connecticut in the NCAA tournament.

Once again just seconds away from a spot in the Elite Eight and only UConn standing in the way, Washington couldn't hold on, losing 98-92 in overtime in the Washington Regional and seeing its Final Four dreams die as painful a death as imaginable.

"It's a bad time right now, but life goes on," UW senior Bobby Jones said in a hushed Washington locker room.

It was UConn that ended another UW run in the Sweet 16 in 1998 on Richard Hamilton's last-second shot.

This time, it was UConn guard Rashad Anderson playing the villain, hitting a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Once there, UConn — the favorite to win it all now that Duke is gone — finally pulled away as Washington began to run out of players. Five fouled out before it was over.

"It's something they will always think about the rest of their lives, how close they came," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. Had it won, UW would have needed to beat only No. 11 seed George Mason to reach the Final Four.

It is the second straight year the Huskies have lost in the Sweet 16. Last season, UW lost to Louisville.

The loss also ended the careers of four Washington seniors who helped rebuild the program — Jones, Brandon Roy, Jamaal Williams and Mike Jensen.

"I guess it's my turn to move on now," Roy said.

It looked like Washington might be moving on to the Elite Eight when it took an 80-76 lead with 21.2 seconds left on two free throws by Justin Dentmon.

But as another in-state team, Gonzaga, showed the night before, this NCAA tournament is particularly unpredictable. This game fit the bill — there were nine lead changes and 13 ties.

After UConn cut the lead to one, Roy hit two free throws to give Washington an 82-79 lead with 7.9 seconds left.

UConn, which had a timeout remaining, decided not to call it and Williams got the ball to Anderson, UConn's best three-pointer shooter. Anderson hit a trey to tie the score at 82 with 1.8 seconds left.

"I just knew that if the ball got to me, I was going to knock it down and we wasn't going to lose this game, no matter what," said Anderson, who finished with 19 points. "I knew it was down."

UW (26-7) actually had a last chance as Ryan Appleby had a good look from three-point range as the buzzer sounded. But it hit the back of the rim and bounced away.

In overtime, UConn took advantage of what Washington fans surely thought were many controversial calls to pull away. Most notable was a non-call on an apparent goaltend of a Roy shot with a little less than two minutes left.

"There were a lot of plays where we got the short end of the stick," Jones said.

UConn stretched its lead to 94-89 with 24 seconds left. But UW had one last rally.

First, Appleby hit a three-pointer with 16.3 seconds left. Then he stole the inbounds pass. But a Joel Smith pass intended for Roy was picked off by Marcus Williams.

With Williams racing for a layin, Roy was forced to foul and he headed to the bench for good with 11.3 seconds left, his marvelous UW career finally over.

"Well, 1,100 basketball games I've been fortunate enough to be involved with I've never been quite involved with something like that," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

UW dominated the first 25 minutes of the game, using its defense to force UConn into a season-high 26 turnovers. Washington led by 11 early in the second half.

But the game began to turn when Roy picked up three fouls in 38 seconds midway through the second half. The last of those came in uncharacteristic fashion when he momentarily lost his cool and got into a staredown with Connecticut's Rudy Gay. Roy was called for a foul on the play, and both players were whistled for technicals. That gave Roy four, and he headed to the bench with 13:48 left, not to return until there was 6:42 remaining.

"I let my teammates down," said Roy, who said Gay had elbowed him in the stomach and he was just trying to tell Gay to "watch those late elbows."

The sequence seemed disastrous when UConn outscored UW 10-2 to tie the score at 55 with 12:05 left, then took its first lead since early in the first half at 61-60 with 9:50 to go.

But Washington refused to fold even with its leader on the bench.

Jamaal Williams made sure of that, time and again scoring inside on Connecticut's trees, despite giving up about a half-a-foot against each one. He finished with a career-high 27 points.

"I'm so proud of our guys," Romar said. "They don't have to look back and say they wish they tried a little harder. They gave it everything they had."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com