Arizona knocks off Washington thanks to the block of the year

With one ferocious block, Derrick Williams simultaneously put Arizona into a commanding position atop the Pac-10 standings while casting a shadow of doubt on Washington's tournament resume.

Arizona was up as much as twelve points in the second half, but Isaiah Thomas (12 points, nine assists, two turnovers) and Matthew Bryan-Amaning (26 points, nine rebounds, six blocks, four assists, three steals) led the Huskies all the way back. After Solomon Hill scored to give Arizona the lead back with 22 seconds left, Bryan-Amaning traveled with three seconds left. But Arizona gave Washington the ball right back when Hill threw an inbounds pass off of Momo Jones' foot.

Washington got the ball back with 2.2 seconds left, but Darnell Gant's seemingly open layup was thrown into the student section by Williams with 0.2 seconds left and Arizona escaped with an 87-86 win.


Williams finished with 26 points, 11 boards, and two blocks. He hit threes, he scored in the post, and he penetrated from the perimeter all the way to the rim. He did everything you could ask for from a combo-forward, and had people like Chad Ford tweeting that the sophomore could end up going as high as No. 1 in this June's draft.

That's a helluva night.

With the win, Arizona move three games ahead of Washington and remained a game in front of UCLA in the Pac-10 standings with a trip left to Pauley Pavilion. The Wildcats can all but assure themselves a Pac-10 regular season title by winning that game next weekend.

As far as Washington is concerned, they are in bigger trouble in regards to the bubble than you think. The Huskies are now in third place in the Pac-10 (if you want an idea of what the Pac-10 is like this season, Oregon is sitting directly behind Washington in the league standings) and just 18-8 on the season. They have only two top 80 wins and two losses to sub-100 teams. They've also lost four of their last five road games, with the one win coming at Arizona State.

The Huskies close out their season with three straight home games, including against UCLA. They would be wise to win all three.