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Dentmon's career-high 24 points too much for Oregon

Jan 26, 2007 - 7:49 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- With Oregon's floor general absent, Washington little man Justin Dentmon took control.

Dentmon scored a career-high 24 points as the Huskies snapped a three-game losing streak with an 89-77 victory over the seventh-ranked Ducks, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Freshman center Spencer Hawes, who missed Saturday's 75-47 demoralizing defeat at Washington State, scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting for Washington (12-7, 2-6 Pac-10), which had dropped six of its last seven games - including five road losses.

"Well, home sweet home. I am proud of our guys for how well they competed tonight," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We played a team that was without a guy who at this point may be the league MVP in Aaron Brooks and a warrior in Adam Zahn. Nonetheless, I still think that we put forth the type of effort that wins ballgames tonight.

"It was good to see Justin Dentmon play at such a high level and it was good to see Spencer Hawes back in the lineup as well."

Oregon point guard and catalyst Brooks, who is averaging 18.4 points and has proven to be a clutch performer all season, was serving the final game of a two-game suspension levied by the program due to his actions in a conference tournament game last season against the Huskies. The fiery 5-10 point guard, who also sat out the season opener against Lehigh, elbowed Washington guard Ryan Appleby in the nose during the 84-73 win last March.

With Brooks absent, Dentmon - who had started just one of the last six games due to inconsistent play - shot 8-of-15 from the floor and added six rebounds and seven assists. He did commit six turnovers.

"This week we decided to put Justin Dentmon back in the lineup," Romar said. "He has been steadily coming along and tonight we saw how much progress he has made since his early season slump. You saw him coming up with rebounds and steals and those are the things that you are looking for in Justin Dentmon."

Appleby sank four 3-pointers and scored 16 points and as Washington improved to 8-1 in its last nine home games against ranked teams.

Washington's pressure defense turned 18 turnovers - five more than Oregon's season average - into 25 points, and the Huskies dominated the offensive glass, 10-4. A switch to zone midway through the second half also slowed down the Ducks.

"We played pretty good defense tonight, but there were times when we had lapses," Romar said. "Certain combinations on the floor gave us a high level of intensity, but I thought we came out really sharp on the defensive end.

"I thought that our guys did a good job in the (zone). Oregon had some good looks on the switch and sometime anything goes."

That combination helped prevent the Ducks (18-2, 6-2) from matching their best start in school history. The 1926-27 edition started 24-1 before losing their 26th game.

Bryce Taylor scored 19 points and Chamberlain Oguchi, who started in place of Brooks, added 15 for the Ducks, who lost despite shooting 55 percent (29-of-53).

Washington took the lead for good, 66-65, on a 3-pointer by Hans Gasser with 13 minutes left. A layup by Hawes extended the lead to three. Both hoops came after Romar picked up a technical foul for arguing with the officials.

In the final seven minutes, Appleby hit a 3-pointer and Jon Brockman went 6-of-6 from the line. Brockman finished with 14 points and eight eight rebounds.