Associated Press
SEATTLE — Bennedict Mathurin led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points off the bench, Jordan Brown added 12 points, and Arizona routed Washington 80-53 on Thursday night.
The Wildcats (8-1, 2-1 Pac-12) nearly had five players finish in double figures, jumping to a big first-half lead and using an early run in the second half to blow the game open. The Wildcats led by as many as 30 in the closing seconds.
Ažuolas Tubelis and Terrell Brown Jr. both finished with 10 points and three other Wildcats scored at least eight.
It was the first game for the Wildcats since announcing there would be no postseason opportunities for Arizona this season. The school announced Tuesday it was imposing a one-year postseason ban related to its long-running NCAA rules infractions case.
Arizona was accused of nine counts of misconduct, including five Level I violations, in a Notice of Allegations sent by the NCAA in October. The violations include a lack of institutional control and failure to monitor by the university, and lack of head coach control by basketball coach Sean Miller.
The Wildcats will not participate in the Pac-12 or NCAA tournaments.
Washington (1-7, 0-3) lost its fourth straight and second in a row in blowout fashion to a conference opponent. The Huskies were thumped by Colorado 92-69 in their last game prior to Christmas.
Quade Green led the Huskies with 23 points but no other Washington player scored more than seven. Washington shot 31% for the game and just 27% in the second half.
Big losses
Washington suffered consecutive losses by 20 or more points for the first time since the 2002-03 season, the first under Lorenzo Romar. In January 2003, the Huskies lost 91-66 at Oregon and 82-62 at Oregon State.
Big picture
Arizona: The Wildcats already led the Pac-12 and were 23rd nationally in rebounding margin. That will likely increase after their effort against Washington. The Wildcats outrebounded the Huskies 58-30, including 19-9 on the offensive end.
Washington: For a team struggling to establish inside scoring, the Huskies must get better at shooting the 3. The Huskies were 6 of 31 from behind the 3-point line. Green was 3 of 13 from deep. The rest of the Huskies combined to go 3 of 18. Hameir Wright missed all eight of his attempts.
Up next
Arizona: The Wildcats travel across the state to face Washington State on Saturday.
Washington: The Huskies are scheduled to play Arizona State on Saturday although that game may be in question after the Sun Devils had to cancel their game at Washington State due to COVID-19 issues.
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