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Washington edges Arizona State, maintains Pac-10 lead

Feb 27, 2009 - 7:30 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Washington has put itself in line for its first outright Pac-10 Conference title.

Jon Brockman had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Justin Dentmon scored 16 as No. 21 Washington took control of the Pac-10 with an 73-70 overtime victory over 11th-ranked Arizona State on Thursday.

Freshman Isaiah Thomas scored 11 points and Quincy Pondexter added 10 and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (21-7, 12-4 Pac-10), who moved ahead of the Sun Devils (21-6, 10-5) by 1 1/2 games atop the standings. California (10-5) and UCLA (10-5) are also 1 1/2 games back with three contests remaining.

Washington has not won a conference title since it captured the Pacific Coast Conference in 1953. The Huskies last had a share of the Pac-10 title in 1984.

"I think our hearts have gotten bigger and bigger as the years progress," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "What our guys did tonight, in a poor shooting night, I thought was very, very special."

Brockman opened the overtime period with consecutive layups and the Huskies never trailed during the final five minutes.

Rihards Kuksiks' floater in the lane cut the Sun Devils deficit to 68-67 with 28 seconds to go but Dentmon and Venoy Overton each made a pair of free throws to give the Huskies a five-point lead with 19 seconds left.

"I think mental toughness and being together in the game really helped us bring that game out at the end in overtime," Dentmon said.

Derek Glasser banked in a desperation 3-pointer with four seconds remaining but, after Dentmon made one of two from the foul line, Ty Abbott's three-quarters court heave to tie the game was off the mark.

Jeff Pendergraph had 24 points and 13 rebounds and James Harden scored 19 before fouling out midway through the overtime to pace Arizona State, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.

"I don't think we ran out of gas," ASU coach Herb Sendek said. "I think our guys battled like crazy and I think it could have gone either way. We gave everything that we had."

Dentmon's driving layup in traffic put Washington on top, 61-59, with 45 seconds left in regulation but Harden answered on the other end. Harden missed a layup but, after Dentmon collected the rebound, the sophomore guard stole it back and evened the game at 61-61 on a dunk with 13 seconds left.

The Sun Devils trailed by as many as 13 in the first half before eventually cutting the deficit to one at the break.

Arizona State got off to a slow start to begin the second half and Washington gradually built its lead up to 48-40 on Dentmon's layup with 12:56 remaining.

However, the Sun Devils chipped away and eventually took a 53-52 lead on Pendergraph's layup with 5:50 to go.

The Huskies made just 2-of-16 from the arc, but Dentmon knocked down a shot from the right wing to level the contest at 59-59 with 1:52 to play in regulation.

"We were very fortunate to come out with a victory against a very good basketball team," Romar said. "We did what we had to on the defensive end. I thought our intensity was at a high level."