Field Level Media
Feb 17, 2018
The Washington Huskies celebrated Isaiah Thomas' jersey retirement with a 19-6 flurry to start the second half that propelled them to a convincing 82-59 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes in a Pacific-12 Conference men's basketball contest Saturday in Seattle.
The Huskies lifted Thomas' No. 2 into the rafters in a halftime ceremony honoring the school's eighth-leading scorer (1,721 points) despite playing just three seasons. Washington went 76-30 from 2009-11 in Thomas' three seasons, winning one regular-season championship and two conference tournament titles.
With Thomas cheering the team on, Washington (18-9, 8-6) snapped a season-worst three-game losing streak by completing a season-series sweep of Colorado (15-12, 7-8). The Huskies won 72-62 in Boulder, Colo., last month.
Matisse Thybulle exploded for a career-best 26 points to lead the Huskies, who were coming off a 70-58 home loss to Utah on Thursday.
The junior forward's previous high was 20 points last season against Yale. He had 19 against Kansas earlier this season.
Noah Dickerson had 14 points, while Dominic Green and Jaylen Nowell added 11 apiece for Washington, which is attempting to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Thomas' final season at the school in 2011.
Dickerson led all rebounders in the game with nine. David Crisp had a game-high seven assists to complement seven points and six rebounds.
Dickerson scored 12 of his 14 and Green all of his 11 in the first half, during which the Huskies grabbed a 39-34 lead.
Then the Washington defense took over, limiting the Buffaloes to six points in the first nine minutes of the second half, allowing the Huskies to pull away into a 58-40 advantage.
The 59 points allowed were the second-fewest by Washington in a Pac-12 game this season. They limited California to 56 in a 10-point win last month.
Tyler Bey finished with 11 points for Colorado, which went winless on its two-game trip to the state of Washington. The Buffaloes were beaten 73-69 at Washington State on Thursday.
Bey also found time for a team-leading eight rebounds.
McKinley Wright IV added 10 points for the Buffaloes, who suffered their most lopsided loss of the Pac-12 season.
--Field Level Media