SEATTLE “”mdash; Guard Justin Dentmon’s layup with 2:17 remaining brought Washington’s lead up to nine, as big as it had been all game, and helped keep UCLA at bay.
Dentmon was a huge part of the Huskies’ upset on Sunday, coming off the bench and scoring a game-high 20 points in his 26 minutes on the floor.
Saying Washington got a lot of help from its bench would be an understatement.
The Husky subs totaled 37 points on the day, getting 11 from Quincy Pondexter and six from Matt Bryan-Amaning to go along with Dentmon’s big day.
“I thought they did a great job, an outstanding job,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “Their rotation really did a good job wearing us down.”
While the Huskies depended on their reserves Sunday, the Bruins were not able to do the same.
UCLA got just two points from its bench, with the unit going 1-9 from the floor. Forward James Keefe hit a jumper late in the first half for the Bruins’ only offensive contribution from their substitutes.
The Huskies’ star sub got a big break in the second half. Dentmon was able to exploit Collison on the dribble after the Bruin guard picked up a third foul early in the half on a technical. Twelve of Dentmon’s 20 came in the second half.
“I’ve been letting my teammates down by not being aggressive,” Dentmon said. “I’ve just been out of it. I’m trying to show them that I can pick it up. I tried my best tonight.”
UCLA felt the pangs of having the shorter bench, with starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute missing the weekend with a sprained ankle.
Besides his defensive abilities and strong rebounding that make him valuable, the Bruins also missed having another player to share minutes on the court.
“It definitely hurts us,” forward Josh Shipp said. “Luc does a lot of great things for us. He definitely could have given a lot of the wing players blows. Some of us were tired out there towards the end.”
MATA-REAL ON THE MEND: Senior Lorenzo Mata-Real has been playing through a left-wrist injury that seems to be getting better. After sustaining the injury in the last minute against Arizona State on Jan. 31, he underwent an X-ray and an MRI that were negative.
Mata-Real did not miss any time but had an extensive tape job on the wrist. Sunday he came out for warm-ups with just light taping but only played seven minutes totalling one block and no points or rebounds.
DRIBBLERS: Washington fans have a tradition at Bank of America Arena to remain standing until the opposing team scores its first bucket. Fans sat down 29 seconds into the game after forward Alfred Aboya sunk a jumper at the top of the key on the game’s first possession. … Freshman Kevin Love received a slightly warmer welcome in Seattle than he has been used to on the road, receiving a mild ovation when his name was announced before the game. … Former Texas Longhorn and current Seattle SuperSonic Kevin Durant was in attendance and went into the UCLA locker room following the game. UCLA’s strength and conditioning coach was with Durant in Texas, and the SuperSonic also knows Love.