Huskies advance — once game gets started

SAN DIEGO — With an unanticipated extra hour to wait around for their NCAA tournament opener Thursday, some of the Washington Huskies did what college kids will do.

"I got an extra hour's nap," said UW guard Bobby Jones of the additional wait. The start of the game was delayed an hour and five minutes when the arena was cleared in the morning due to a bomb scare that proved unfounded.

And the Huskies still looked a little sleepy when their game with Utah State tipped off, missing nine of their first 10 shots — four of which didn't even graze the rim.

But once aroused, it was Utah State's upset hopes the Huskies put in a slumber, beating the Aggies 75-61 to advance to the second round Saturday, when they will face Illinois.

It is the second straight year UW has won an NCAA tournament game, the first time the Huskies have done that in successive seasons.

In the process, the Huskies quieted all the talk that they were ripe for a short stay in the tournament.

"It feels good busting a lot of people's brackets," Jones said.

And it was Brandon Roy, as might have been expected, who was the biggest bracket-buster of all. Roy scored a game-high 28 points and dished out five assists, living up to all the hype in a game he knew was the first time a lot of people would be watching him.

"Someone after the game mentioned to me, 'That guy's pretty good. It's a shame more people haven't heard about him — wow,' " said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "All I could say was: 'I agree with you sir.' "

Said Utah State coach Stew Morrill: "We really had no answer for him. He's the real deal."

Roy scored 17 points in the second half as the Huskies held off numerous comeback attempts from the game Aggies, the second-place team from the Western Athletic Conference. Utah State never got closer than seven after halftime. But the Huskies were never completely comfortable until the last two minutes.

"They were everything that we thought and have talked about all week," Romar said of the Aggies. "We could not let up at any point in the game."

The Huskies looked like they might have more than they could handle when the game began. Washington scored its first basket at the 19:18 mark, then didn't score again until 13:17 remaining in the first half.

But UW's pressure defense, which caused 22 turnovers, kept Utah State just as inoffensive; the Aggies didn't get their second basket until 12:55 left.

Washington forward Jamaal Williams said the extra wait — coupled with a shortened warmup period designed to get the game going as close to its original time as expected — "built up the anxiety a little bit. Just sitting there waiting and waiting. I think it did affect us a little bit."

Williams finally got UW untracked, coming off the bench to hit four straight shots as UW went on a 13-2 run over a five-minute span of the first half to build a 17-7 lead.

"I noticed the team wasn't scoring buckets; we were missing easy layups," Williams said. "In my mind, I thought I would go out there and try to be aggressive."

Williams led all scorers with 12 at halftime (he finished with 15) as the Huskies led 29-20 despite making just 12 of 30 shots and being uncharacteristically outrebounded 20-12. Utah State senior forward Nate Harris had a double-double by halftime, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

But Utah State stayed in its 2-3 zone to start the second half, and the Huskies finally began to take advantage. Washington, which hit just one of its first nine three-pointers, hit 9 of 17 treys in the second half and finished with a season-high-tying 12 in a season-high 27 attempts.

That allowed the Huskies to not only beat the Aggies but beat them at their own game. Utah State was the third-best three-point shooting team in the nation but hit just 3 of 13 — and none in six attempts in the first half.

Roy led the way, hitting 4 of 7 three-pointers after overcoming some jitters.

"I think I was just a little overexcited," he said. "Even in warmups, I noticed my shots were a little long. I was just excited. This is a big stage."

Now the Huskies get to step on an even bigger one Saturday against fourth-seeded Illinois, which last year made it to the national-title game before losing to North Carolina. The fifth-seeded Huskies had tried to portray themselves as underdogs against the No. 12 Aggies, based on hearing all that upset talk. But they really will be against the Illini.

"We play better in this role," Roy said. "We're going to keep scrapping, keep fighting. Nobody's going to pick us. I don't think hardly anybody picked us today, so we're going to keep that mentality."

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