Arizona faced perhaps the most favorable late-season schedule of any team in the race for the conference crown. But the Wildcats' hopes rested heavily on winning at Washington.
Arizona, winner of five consecutive games, couldn't make it six in a row, falling 79-70 to the Huskies in Seattle and all but ending any hopes of repeating as Pac-12 regular-season champion.
Hoping their NCAA tournament bubble doesn't burst as they hang on by their fingernails, the Wildcats (19-9, 10-5 Pac-12) need a strong finish to return to the postseason.
"It's hard to deal with that," Arizona coach Sean Miller said of the uncertainty. "But our solution has to be to just win. I know that we're at 19 (wins) right now and our goal is to get to 20."
Arizona closes with home games this week against USC and UCLA, then plays at rival Arizona State to wrap up the regular season. It's likely the Wildcats will win all three, but they are two games behind co-leaders Washington and Cal and needed the win at UW to stay in the hunt.
Just as Arizona's Derrick Williams overpowered many team a year ago, Washington's two future NBA players, Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten, were too much for the Cats. They combined for 47 points as the Huskies beat UA for the second time this season.
"Sometimes Derrick alone would be so devastating to the other team that it's difficult for them to win," Miller said. "The combination of Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten is really a 1-2 punch that you have to be ready to deal with, because (today) they were terrific."
NOTES, QUOTES
-- Washington had only six turnovers and took 11 more shots than Arizona, thanks partly to 20 offensive rebounds.
-- Senior G Kyle Fogg now has 179 career 3-pointers, moving him past Miles Simon for eighth on Arizona's all-time list.
-- Arizona has dropped five of the past six meetings with Washington but still leads the all-time series 44-28.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 -- Double-doubles this season for junior F Solomon Hill, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the 79-70 loss at Washington. That inched him ahead of Jesse Perry (nine double-doubles) for the team lead and ranks second in the Pac-12.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's the thing they do the very best of any team in the conference, and we knew that coming in. We had a lot of breakdowns, and sometimes it's difficult to give credit to the other team, but it's the right thing in this case. They were hungry, they play hard, they're great at offensive rebounding and they had that in place." -- Arizona coach Sean Miller after Washington grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.
PLAYER NOTES
-- Freshman G Nick Johnson had a quiet night at Washington State, missing
all three of his 3-point attempts and scoring two points. But when UA needed him to step up in the critical game at Washington, Johnson
delivered a career-high 20 points for his 13th double-digit scoring game of the
season.
-- Senior G Brendon Lavender had 17 points off the bench in the win over Washington State, giving him 29 in a two-game span during which he went 9 for 12 from 3-point range. Lavender cooled off a bit at Washington, going 2 for 6 from deep in a six-point effort.
-- Senior G Kyle Fogg had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Washington State, then 11 points against UW. Fogg certainly has carried his weight recently, averaging 16 points and shooting 44.4 percent from the 3-point arc over the past six games.
-- Senior F Jesse Perry had 14 points at Wazzu, then 13 in the loss at Washington. He has averaged 13.5 points over the past six games.
