Washington's Justin Holiday in right place for game's last shot

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the game's final play, Justin Holiday's first instinct told him to follow Maurice Acker, who broke free to the left.

But he hesitated a split second and Lazar Hayward, Marquette's senior star, flashed in front of him and Holiday figured that's where the Golden Eagles were going for their last shot.

"If I would have left, he probably would have gotten closer and had a better look," Holiday said. "I'm glad I stayed were I was."

No matter the outcome, Holiday knew this play was going to be a highlight replayed over and over on ESPN.

"I wanted to get a hand in his face, but I didn't want to foul him," Holiday said after Washington's 80-78 NCAA tournament first-round victory on Thursday. "Just contest, but don't do anything silly."

With Holiday dogging him and just 1.7 seconds left, Hayward had precious little time do anything but take a dribble or two and line up a half-court heave.

"It seemed like it was an eternity because he had a chance to put it on the ground and get a good look at it," UW star Quincy Pondexter said. "It wasn't rushed at all. I thought it was going to be another reverse senior moment and he hits the big shot."

Hayward's shot sailed long, hit the back of the rim on the left and glanced off the glass before bouncing away as time expired.

"I'm glad that ball didn't go in," Pondexter said. "It looked like it was in. He's a terrific player. I'm sorry it had to end like that."

Hayward is to Marquette what Pondexter is to Washington.

The Golden Eagles senior star finished with 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting, four assists and four steals.

Turner to the rescue

Nearly every time Elston Turner touched the ball, Marquette assistants yelled "shooter, shooter," so loud they could be heard over the cheers at HP Pavilion.

Still the scouting report was incomplete.

"They knew I was a shooter, but they didn't what I like to do or how I get open or the little things that teams in the Pac-10 might know because we see them all the time," Turner said. "I like playing against teams that don't know us because you can do things to be effective that maybe you couldn't do during the (regular) season."

Needing a spark in the second half, UW turned to Turner and he scored 11 of his 14 points after the break.

When Washington used a 27-11 run that turned a 60-45 deficit into a 72-71 lead, Turner sank three three-pointers during the spurt.

"I was just trying to find openings to get us going a little bit," he said. "We weren't playing the best at that moment and we needed something to jump start us."

Notes

• Pondexter needs 24 points to move past Bob Houbregs (1,774) into third place on UW's all-time scoring list. Chris Welp (2,073) is atop the list followed by Jon Brockman (1,805).

• Pondexter and Marquette's David Cubillan each collected technical fouls for taunting in the second half. Said Pondexter: "It was more of finding a way to get under his skin a little bit and he played great still."

• The score was tied 11 times and the lead changed 11 times.

• Several former Huskies attended Thursday's game including Spencer Hawes, Artem Wallace, Chris Thompson and Brockman.

• Venoy Overton finished with eight points and five assists.

• Freshman Abdul Gaddy was one of 21 players to accept an invitation to attend training camp for the 2010 USA Men's Basketball U18 National Team. The training camp, which will be held June 14-16 at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

WASHINGTON (25-9)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
B-Amaning	25	5-9	1-2	0-3	0	1	11
Holiday	21	3-4	0-0	0-1	1	2	8
Thomas	40	7-13	2-2	0-3	8	3	19
Gaddy	8	0-0	0-0	0-3	2	1	0
Pondexter	37	7-17	4-8	5-11	2	3	18
Overton	24	2-3	4-4	0-1	5	3	8
Suggs	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
Turner	25	5-6	0-0	0-3	1	1	14
Breshers	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Gant	11	1-2	0-0	1-1	1	0	2
	200	30-55	11-16	7-28	21	15	80

Percentages: FG .545, FT .688. Three-point goals: 9-14, .643 (Turner 4-5, Thomas 3-5, Holiday 2-3, Suggs 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 6 (Bryan-Amaning 3, Pondexter 2, Holiday). Turnovers: 12 (Gaddy 3, Pondexter 2, Overton 2, Bryan-Amaning, Thomas, Turner, Breshers, Holiday). Steals: 4 (Pondexter 2, Thomas, Bryan-Amaning). Technical fouls: Pondexter.

MARQUETTE (22-12)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Hayward	30	8-16	0-0	0-2	4	3	20
Butler	39	2-6	4-5	1-4	0	2	8
Jhnsn-Odom	33	6-8	6-8	0-3	5	2	19
Acker	35	4-9	2-2	0-2	5	4	13
Cubillan	39	5-8	0-0	4-8	1	3	14
Cadougan	1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Fulce	10	0-0	0-0	0-2	0	3	0
Buycks	13	2-3	0-0	0-0	1	0	4
	200	27-51	12-15	5-22	16	17	78

Percentages: FG .529, FT .800. Three-point goals: 12-19, .632 (Cubillan 4-5, Hayward 4-9, Acker 3-3, Johnson-Odom 1-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 1 (Hayward). Turnovers: 13 (Hayward 5, Acker 3, Butler 2, Johnson-Odom, Fulce). Steals: 8 (Hayward 4, Butler 3, Acker). Technical fouls: Cubillan.

Washington	42	38	—	80
Marquette	43	35	—	78

Attendance: N/A. Officials: Leslie Jones, Don Daily, Michael Greenstein.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com