Huskies can't finish off California

In 55 minutes of basketball Saturday at Edmundson Pavilion, California led for just 26 seconds.

But then, timing is everything.

And while it was the Washington Huskies who appeared to have the game won in regulation, the first overtime and the second overtime, it was Cal that finally escaped with the real thing.

"That was Lazarus," said California coach Mike Montgomery after his team's 88-85 victory in front of 9,946 at Hec Ed, who saw the first triple-overtime game for UW since 1984. "We rose from the dead a lot of times."

The Huskies, however, gave the Bears a lot of CPR along the way and left the court feeling they had mostly suffered a self-inflicted wound.

Washington led by 11 in the second half, and by at least three in every overtime period — never trailing until the final 15 seconds of the third overtime — before finally falling flat.

"We obviously had our chances and we have nobody but to blame but ourselves," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar after a loss that halted the Huskies' nine-game winning streak. It was Washington's first home defeat in 11 games.

Washington fell to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in Pac-10 play and faces a stretch of six of eight on the road that could define the season.

Romar insisted the Huskies will be able to resuscitate themselves and not let this loss linger, saying, "It's too early in the season to allow that to happen," though he worried enough about it that it was one of the first things he talked to his team about in the locker room.

"It's just hard to lose, period," said UW forward Jon Brockman, adding that "you can't really beat yourself up. What's done is done."

If anybody slept restlessly after this one, however, it was likely Brockman. His stat line of 16 points and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds was marred by hitting 2 of 8 free throws.

That typified another night of struggle for the Huskies in that area. Washington was a decent 27 of 40 overall from the line, but missed four of six in the final four minutes of regulation and four more in the final two overtime periods, each time in the final minute.

"It's hard," said Brockman of the free-throw woes that have continued, if not quite to the same degree, from a year ago when UW was the worst in the nation. "It's even harder when it's something you put so much emphasis on working in the offseason."

Still, the Huskies looked in good shape, holding a 77-74 lead in the final seconds in the second overtime.

As Cal's Patrick Christopher missed a harried three-pointer, it appeared UW would survive having given up a 54-43 lead with less than eight minutes left, and Bears shots that could have won the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime.

Instead, Cal's D.J. Seeley got the rebound of Christopher's shot, and as he laid it in, was fouled by UW freshman guard Isaiah Thomas. Seeley, 5 of 10 on free throws coming into the game, calmly made it to send the game to a third overtime.

"I just missed the box-out, plain and simple," said Thomas, who had 22 points but just nine after halftime.

Romar, who said his team made too many mental errors, gave some benefit of the doubt to Thomas on that play.

"I think it was just a reaction before he really thought about it," Romar said.

Montgomery said he was somewhat surprised the foul was called.

"That was clearly a foul, but to get that whistle on the road, that much time left, you are like, 'He's not going to call that,' " Montgomery said.

Washington, which grabbed the lead to begin each overtime, again led 83-79 with 2:08 left in the third overtime, and after Cal tied it, regained the lead at 85-83 on two free throws by Justin Dentmon with 28 seconds left.

But Cal's Theo Robertson then drove through from the right side and was fouled by Quincy Pondexter as the shot fell through with 15.2 seconds left. He made the free throw to give California its first lead since 1-0 at the 19:11 mark of the first half.

"I saw a lane to the bucket and tried to make a strong move," said Robertson.

Dentmon then missed on a drive in heavy traffic and California's Christopher got the rebound and hit two free throws, the last of his game-high 27 points, to seal the deal.

Christopher later called it the greatest game he has ever played in, in part because of all that California had to overcome.

"They had the crowd, the atmosphere was tremendous," Christopher said. "Everything was against us."

Until finally, it all went their way.

CALIFORNIA
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Boykin	22	0-3	3-4	3-6	3	4	3
Robertson	50	7-15	2-4	0-9	1	3	18
Wilkes	14	1-1	0-0	0-1	0	2	2
Randle	41	7-16	8-10	0-3	2	5	23
Christopher	53	8-24	7-8	6-11	1	4	27
Seeley	11	2-4	1-1	2-3	0	3	6
Gutierrez	36	3-6	0-0	1-2	4	4	6
Knezevic	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Amoke	6	0-0	0-0	0-2	0	0	0
Kamp	39	1-2	1-2	0-5	0	5	3
	275	29-71	22-29	14-46	11	30	88

Percentages: FG .408, FT .759. Three-point goals: 8-22, (Robertson 2-5, Randle 1-6, Christopher 4-9, Seeley 1-1, Gutierrez 0-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1, (Kamp). Turnovers: 18, (Robertson 4, Wilkes, Randle 5, Christopher 3, Seeley, Gutierrez 3). Steals: 4, (Boykin, Robertson, Christopher, Kamp). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Pondexter	45	2-9	1-2	4-7	1	4	5
Brockman	45	7-11	2-8	4-18	1	2	16
Gant	17	1-2	1-2	1-4	1	3	3
Thomas	41	8-20	5-6	0-2	5	4	22
Dentmon	41	5-14	13-16	3-5	1	3	24
Overton	23	2-6	2-2	0-0	1	5	6
Bryn-Amnng	36	2-4	0-0	0-0	0	3	4
Holiday	27	1-3	3-4	0-3	2	2	5
	275	28-69	27-40	14-42	12	26	85

Percentages: FG .406, FT .675. Three-point goals: 2-10, (Thomas 1-7, Dentmon 1-2, Overton 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3, (Pondexter, Dentmon, Holiday). Turnovers: 14, (Pondexter 2, Brockman 2, Thomas 4, Dentmon 2, Overton, Bryan-Amaning, Holiday). Steals: 6, (Brockman, Thomas 2, Dentmon, Overton, Bryan-Amaning). Technical fouls: None.

California	28	30	6	13	11	—	88
Washington	32	26	6	13	8	—	85

Attendance: 9,946. Officials: Bruce Hicks, Michael Eggers, Randy Burkhart.