Washington 60 - 51 USC
Final
  for this game

Washington fighting to hold top spot in Pac-10

Feb 21, 2009 - 3:09 PM No. 19 Washington (19-7) at Southern California (16-9) 7:00 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Washington's slim lead atop the Pac-10 is shrinking.

The 19th-ranked Huskies try to gain some breathing room atop the standings when they visit Southern California on Saturday.

Washington (19-7, 10-4 Pac-10) owns a one-half game lead over a trio of stout contenders in No. 11 Arizona State (20-5, 9-4), 15th-ranked UCLA (20-6, 9-4) and California (20-6, 9-4) with five games remaining in the season.

The Huskies had won three straight games before having that streak snapped during Thursday's 85-76 loss to UCLA, which has won the regular-season Pac-10 title each of the last three campaigns.

Justin Dentmon had 22 points and Jon Brockman contributed 16 and 14 rebounds for Washington, which entered the game as the highest scoring team in the Pac-10, averaging 80.4 points per

game, but failed to mount its usual offensive attack and fell short of the season sweep of the Bruins.

The Huskies should get back on track against the Trojans (16-9, 7-6), who ended a three-game slide with a 61-51 victory over lowly Washington State on Thursday.

Dwight Lewis scored 17 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Southern California.






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