The Washington Huskies desperately needed to knock off the California Golden Bears on Thursday night if they wanted to keep their March Madness hopes alive. After a slow start in Seattle, the Huskies were unable to overcome the deficit late in the second half as they fell 69-66. Cal improved to 6-1 in conference play, while UW fell to 4-2.
Terrance Ross led the way with 15 points on Thursday night, while Aziz N'Diaye and Tony Wroten both had 14. Abdul Gaddy scored an efficient 11 points, although he struggled down the stretch to execute the offense. The story of the game was Darnell Gant; he had just one point and shot 0-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-6 from behind the arc. He also missed a shot at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
The Golden Bears received a huge boost from little-used big man Robert Thurman. Averaging just 2.4 points-per-game, the 6'10 forward scored 16 points and brought down seven rebounds. Allen Crabbe had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Huskies will look to rebound on Saturday as they welcome in the Stanford Cardinal. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
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