• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Washington clinches share of Pac-10 title

Mar 1, 2009 - 2:52 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Jon Brockman and Isaiah Thomas each scored 19 points to lead No. 21 Washington to an 83-78 victory over Arizona on Saturday.

With the win, the Huskies (22-7, 13-4 Pac-10) clinched a share of the regular-season conference title. They can win it outright next Saturday with a victory over rival Washington State.

Arizona led 36-32 at the half but lost Chase Budinger to fouls late in the second half and Jordan Hill for a stretch with an ankle injury.

Hill finished with 27 points and Budinger had 20 for the Wildcats (18-11, 8-8).

"I knew (Hill) was going to be back, he's a warrior, a competitor," Brockman said. "When I found out it was his ankle I knew he would be right back out there on the court as soon as he could. That dude's a beast. He's a big time player. Give him all the respect, he had a great game tonight."

Brockman scored 14 of his points in the second half to help Washington overcome a double-digit deficit.

"Another team effort by our guys," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "I thought we came out a little sluggish in the first half. In the second half we got down, but yet as this team has done many times, continued to persevere and continued to work together and we were able to pull it out. Jon Brockman was big but nothing was bigger than his free throws down the stretch in that game. Lot of heroes in this game."

Arizona was up 10 midway through the second half before Washington responded with a 15-4 run to take a 63-62 lead with 7:45 to go. Washington took the lead for good on a three-point play by the freshman Thomas with 5:25 to go.

The Huskies went 10-of-12 from the line down the stretch to earn a share of the conference title for the first time since 1985. The Huskies will have the opportunity to claim their first outright conference title since 1953 with a win over the Cougars next Saturday.

Arizona has lost three straight to follow up a seven-game winning streak.

"Our effort was a lot better than it was the other night and that's more typical of us," Arizona coach Russ Pennell said. "This is a tough place to play and they're Pac-10 champs, so to play them like we did today, I was proud of our team. Right now, I feel as good about our team as I have all year, even though we lost."