Originally published February 22, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified February 22, 2008 at 12:08 AM

Notebook | Huskies hit free throws with unusual accuracy

With the fouls piling up early and often Thursday at Edmundson Pavilion, the Washington-Arizona game figured to eventually turn into a free-throw-shooting...

By Bob Condotta

Seattle Times staff reporter

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JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Venoy Overton

Thursday's game at a glance

Player of the game: Washington freshman point guard Venoy Overton played the best game of his career — and outplayed Arizona All-American candidate Jerryd Bayless for most of the second half. Overton scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, hitting all nine of his free throws.

Turning point: The Huskies used a 10-1 run midway through the second half to take control, grabbing a 52-39 lead with 9:30 left. Overton sparked the run with five points, including a highlight-reel play when he drove the lane, was fouled, and threw in a high-arching shot as he fell backward, the ball landing on the front rim and then dropping over.

Next: Arizona State, 3 p.m. Saturday, Edmundson Pavilion, FSN.

Bob Condotta

With the fouls piling up early and often Thursday at Edmundson Pavilion, the Washington-Arizona game figured to eventually turn into a free-throw-shooting contest.

That didn't bode well for the Huskies, last in the Pac-10 in free-throw shooting at 58.5 percent coming in.

But on a night of surprises, one of the reasons UW beat Arizona 75-66 was its free throws down the stretch.

The Huskies made 20 of 26 free throws in the second half to pave the way to the win, keyed by 9 for 9 shooting from freshman guard Venoy Overton. Justin Dentmon sank 6 of 6, all in the last minute.

"Tonight, the right guys were there [at the line] because they were hitting them," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar.

Overton credited some recent work on his stroke with assistant coach Jim Shaw.

He came into the game 41 of 64 from the line (64.1 percent) but said he changed up his routine while UW was in Oregon last week, eliminating a spin of the ball right before he shot.

"I just take a couple of dribbles and go right into my shot instead of spinning it," he said. "I just tried to change things and see what the difference would be."

Interestingly, he said that's the same routine he had at Franklin High

He said, "I knew I was a good free-throw shooter in high school, and I thought it was just a free throw and you could make it any way you wanted to, so I tried to add some style to it."

Appleby sets record

Washington senior guard Ryan Appleby set the school record for career three-pointers by sinking two in the first half.

The record came when Appleby got free behind a pick set by Matthew Bryan-Amaning and sank one from the top of the key with 1:55 left in the half. He tied the record with 3:37 left when he caught a rebound of a UW missed free throw tipped out by Artem Wallace.

Appleby entered the game with 211, one behind 6-foot-4 swingman Deon Luton, who hit 212 of 573 three-point attempts in a four-year career from 1996 to 2000.

Appleby set the record in three years, having spent his first year at Florida.

Appleby said the record hadn't really been on his mind.

"After last weekend it was just two, you know? So I was like, 'OK, I'll get it eventually," he said.

Overall, however, it wasn't one of Appleby's better nights. He was 2 for 10 overall, 2 for 9 on three-pointers.

"My shot was just a little bit off," he said. "I got some good looks, especially early in the second half. It is what it is."

NOTES

• Tipoff is 3 p.m. for the March 1 California game. TV details are still being worked out. There is no start time yet for the Washington State game March 8.



ARIZONA (16-10, 6-7 PAC-10)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Budinger	32	3-10	3-4	0-3	4	5	10
Horne	33	0-4	2-2	1-3	1	3	2
Hill	24	4-8	2-4	4-13	0	4	10
Bayless	38	6-19	9-13	1-6	4	4	22
McClellan	37	7-9	1-2	1-2	1	2	19
Johnson	3	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	1	0
Dillon	16	1-3	0-0	2-3	3	3	3
Onobun	12	0-1	0-0	3-4	0	4	0
Walters	5	0-0	0-2	0-0	0	1	0
	200	21-54	17-27	14-38	13	27	66

Percentages: FG .389, FT .630. Three-point goals: 7-17, (Budinger 1-4, Bayless 1-7, McClellan 4-5, Dillon 1-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 6, (Horne, Hill, Bayless, Onobun 2, Walters). Turnovers: 17, (Budinger 3, Hill, Bayless 7, McClellan 5, Onobun). Steals: 2, (Budinger 2).



WASHINGTON (15-12, 6-8)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts

Wallace	25	2-4	1-3	5-7	1	1	5
Brockman	31	6-9	3-11	5-15	0	4	15
Overton	19	5-9	9-9	0-1	2	5	19
Morris	24	3-5	1-2	0-5	0	4	7
Appleby	22	2-10	0-0	0-1	1	1	6
Smith	13	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	1	3
Dentmon	23	0-10	6-6	1-1	2	4	6
B-Amaning	16	2-3	1-2	1-3	0	3	5
Pondexter	27	4-8	1-2	1-3	0	1	9
	200	25-59	22-35	16-41	6	24	75

Percentages: FG .424, FT .629. Three-point goals: 3-16, (Overton 0-1, Appleby 2-9, Smith 1-1, Dentmon 0-4, Pondexter 0-1). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1, (Bryan-Amaning). Turnovers: 8, (Wallace, Brockman, Morris, Appleby, Dentmon, Bryan-Amaning, Pondexter 2). Steals: 6, (Brockman, Overton, Morris, Appleby, Dentmon, Pondexter).