Sweep into second

The Huskies won the battle for second place in the Pac-10 by sliding past a sold-out McKale Center crowd and the 17th-ranked Wildcats 89-84 in just the second home loss for Arizona this season.

The win marked the first time the Huskies have swept the 'Cats since 1984, when Tre Simmons, Washington's high scorer with 22 points, was in diapers. It was also the Huskies' (14-10 overall, 9-6 Pac-10) first road victory over a ranked opponent in 24 tries.

"Unbelievable," said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar. "It was great to see our guys fight tremendous adversity here."

Washington led much of the second period, but didn't closed the door on the Wildcats until the final seconds. With 5:13 left in the game, Arizona's Mustafa Shakur scored over Will Conroy to pull within one, 78-77.

After a Husky turnover, Andre Iguodala could have taken the lead back, but Bobby Jones stood his ground and took two knees to the chest -- forcing Iguodala into an offensive foul.

"We would get a lead and they would come back at us and our guys hung in there and did it on the defensive end," Romar said.

After Brandon Roy (10 points and six assists) hit two freebies to go up 87-84. He also grabbed a potentially game-tying three-point try from Arizona's Chris Rodgers. But the Huskies didn't capitalize as Mike Jensen fouled out with an ugly offensive charge that gave the Wildcats yet another chance to tie the game.

But defense came up big again for the road team.

The 'Cats had 23 seconds to make a big play, only to get a forced Channing Frye miss that Conroy rebounded and quickly quarterback-passed up court to Hakim Rollins for slam as time expired. Frye was hot with a game-high 25 points, but the Husky zone defense swarmed his late attempt.

The bizarre ending left Arizona players scratching their skulls while the Huskies were exchanging high-fives.

"Never seen that one before," Romar said with a chuckle on Conroy's lob pass. "But that play we called for Hakim to be wide open was nicely executed, wasn't it?"

While Simmons established a new career high in points with 22 off the bench, it was Rollins, the Mesa, Arizona, native who made the biggest impact in the paint.

The community college-transfer had a career game, scoring 14 points, all in the second half, and four rebounds. But he made his presence felt with three blocked shots all of which came against Frye, who is arguably the best center in the Pac-10.

Arizona (17-8,9-7) was the same school that only offered Rollins an academic scholarship because they didn't think he could play basketball at a school that annually recruits All-Americans. Rollins showed them his value in a painful way, as the Wildcats are in the middle of their worst season in the last decade, and are losers of two straight.

"It is easy to say (Pac-10) teams are playing down or teams are a little off this year," Rollins explained. "But we played NC State who was perfect at home and almost came out with a win. And to now come out and sweep these guys, what more can you say?"

The Huskies are positioning for a high seed in the conference tournament, but they also have NCAA incentive on mind in attempt to get back to the Big Dance for the first time since 1999.

To do so, Washington will still have to finish strong with three games left in the regular season, even though they have rehabbed well from losing the first five games of the conference season.

" It is remarkable, but we give all the credit to the guys," Romar said. "They were down and I continued to tell them at 0-5 that if you can come back and start winning then there is some kind of character and courage with this group, and that's exactly what has happened."