Defense holds off ASU

After its Arizona defeat last Thursday, Washington was in a must-win situation coming into its game against the Arizona Sun Devils yesterday.

With stingy defense and a better offensive plan, the Huskies walked into Tempe, Ariz., and walked out again tied for first in the Pac-10 thanks to Arizona falling to Washington State last Saturday.

On the surface, it looks as though junior Nate Robinson was the catalyst with his 23 points, constant energy and hustle plays to force the momentum, and the game, Washington's way.

To the casual observer this may be true, but anyone who knows the UW basketball team a little better will see the game slightly differently.

If Robinson was the catalyst, then juniors Bobby Jones and Jamaal Williams were the x-factors. The two forwards picked up the slack for the Huskies' other big men who didn't bring their A-game to the desert.

The Husky duo defended Arizona State All-American Ike Diogu as well as any two players in the country are capable of defending the 6-foot-8 star.

Williams also came off the bench as a force on the offensive end. He used his quick release and nifty jump hook to score 11 points off the bench to give the UW a rather unexpected offensive lift.

As usual Jones led the charge defensively against Diogu and the rest of ASU. Jones used his deceptive quickness along with his grimy fundamental style of play to infect the Sun Devil offense like a virus, giving them trouble throughout the game.

With Jones in the captain's chair, the Husky defense forced Arizona State into 21 turnovers, scoring 25 points off the Sun Devil's miscues.

Because of the duo's defense, it was apparent that Diogu was out of sync with the game. He bobbled and dropped two easy passes on his way to the basket and missed an easy dunk early in the game.

With the road victory, the Huskies showed they can fight through adversity after their defeat at the hands of the Wildcats -- a scary thought for both the UA and the country.

Much like during the Arizona game, there were times within this contest where it appeared the referees were handing the ASU points by calling flop charges and touch fouls against the Huskies.

It was then that Romar took matters into his own hands and earned himself a technical foul that seemed to energize his team, and from that point there was no looking back for Washington.

With the toughest Pac-10 road trip in the bag, it is now time for the Huskies to play their best basketball. Next weekend USC and UCLA come to Seattle and should be afraid; they should be very afraid.