Too bad the odds of Arizona and Washington meeting up in the NCAA tournament are almost zero. It might’ve been the best game of March.
The last time the two played, Derrick Williams saved the Wildcats with a swat. This time around, Huskies guard Isaiah Thomas played the hero, hitting an 18-foot fadeaway jumper as time expired, giving UW a 77-75 win in the Pac-10 tournament championship.
It wasn’t Thomas’ only clutch play, either.
He made up for several poor decisions and missed free throws down the stretch in regulation by making two key assists. Twice he dribbled into the lane, drew the Arizona defense around him and found teammates Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox for 3-pointers that helped send the game into OT.
As the extra period wound down and Arizona (27-7) tied the game at 75, Thomas kept the ball for himself for the game-winner and the Huskies’ second-straight tournament title.
That’ll do it for this year. The Huskies (23-10) probably won’t be in the same region as the Wildcats. If the seeding committee did do that, they wouldn’t meet again until the regional final, which is a remote possibility.
But one can hope. An Elite Eight game between these two would be worthy of a regional final in terms of entertainment and dramatic plays.
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