Huskies battle, fall short without Brockman

For 23 minutes, at least, it appeared as if Washington was adjusting to life without Jon Brockman with relative aplomb.

The ensuing implosion, however, suggested otherwise.

Minus its leading scorer, Washington was done in by a second-half scoring drought last night as it fell 84-81 to California in the first round of the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The Huskies (16-16, 7-11 Pac-10) finish the season at .500, and now their postseason hopes rely solely on the NIT and CBI selection committees.

“It’s a position I definitely didn’t want to be in,” Brockman told KJR sports radio in reference to his injury. “It’s one of those spots at the end of the bench that no athlete in any sport ever wants to be in.”

To their credit, nobody gave up. A whole cast of Huskies stepped up in their captain’s absence, the most notable of which was Quincy Pondexter. Filling Brockman’s spot in the starting lineup, Pondexter attacked the rim for 11 points in the first half, showing the kind of aggression and tenacity that UW fans have been longing for out of the much-heralded sophomore. He finished with a season-high 23 points.

Artem Wallace, now relied on for even more of the team’s low-post duties, scored seven points before halftime despite picking up two fouls early on. He finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Even Joel Smith, who had scored just seven points in Washington’s past 12 games, slashed to the rim for two uncharacteristically lively lay-ins and chipped in six points. UW’s balanced scoring attack propelled the Huskies to a 40-38 lead at the break.

“Guys stepped up in different areas,” Brockman told KJR. “At the same time, we knew going in that we had to out-rebound them, and they kind of picked us apart in that area.”

And once the second half began, Ryan Appleby got in on the fun as well. The senior drilled three 3-pointers in the first 2:30 of the second period, sparking a 13-3 UW run that gave the Huskies a 53-41 lead.

Inexplicably, just when things seemed to be going about as well as possible considering the circumstances, Washington started to collapse. California immediately put together an 18-2 run, taking a 59-55 lead as Ryan Anderson began to find the same rhythm that lifted the Bears over Washington in Seattle earlier this season. Anderson finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds, and his teammate Patrick Christopher took home game-high honors with 25 points.

The Huskies went nearly six minutes between field goals after Appleby’s 3-pointer at the 17:37 mark, as they watched what was at one point a 12-point lead turn into a 64-57 deficit with 11:04 to play.

But the oft-criticized Pondexter, who has been accused of being soft and has yet to live up to expectations, put the team on his shoulders in Brockman’s stead. Pondexter scored 10 straight points down the stretch, keeping the Dawgs in the game and pulling within one on multiple occasions, including an acrobatic put-back with 1:12 to go that trimmed the Cal lead to 79-78.

Then came the dagger. After the Huskies forced a jump ball with two seconds remaining on the shot clock during Cal’s next possession, Anderson drilled a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to give the Bears an 82-78 lead with 42 seconds to play.

Venoy Overton missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Huskies were once more sent away the losers in a down-to-the-wire contest.

“We’ve got to find a way to be able to finish what we’ve started,” UW assistant coach Cameron Dollar said. “We didn’t play smart enough for the entire game. Didn’t finish it.”

Dollar’s remarks are only fitting.

[Reach reporter Christian Caple at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]