Things turn gray for WSU

SEATTLE - Terrence Ross and Lorenzo Romar got hot in completely different ways.

Each may be looked back upon as critical moments in Washington's season.

Ross overcame an awful first half of shooting to score 26 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, Darnell Gant added 10 of his 13 during Washington's decisive second-half run, and the Huskies rallied from 10 points down in the second half to beat rival Washington State 75-65 on Sunday night.

Ross was the scoring catalyst, but Romar will get a major assist for a technical foul that may not have been calculated but was vitally important. Romar's eruption with 12:16 left came after Ross was called for an offensive foul and the ensuing free throws gave Washington State a 47-37 lead.

Washington (11-6, 4-1 Pac-12) outscored the Cougars 38-18 the rest of the way.

"That was the one play that really made me angry ... I really knew I was going to have to help the team and if it wasn't on offense, on defense or rebounding or loose balls or hustle plays or something," Ross said. "I knew I had to contribute in some sort of way."

While Romar's nearly jacket-flailing technical will be remembered as the turning point, Ross' second half will go down in Washington lore in part because it came against the Huskies' rivals. He was 1 of 9 shooting in the first half and just 2 of 12 after missing three of his first four shots to begin the second half.

He then made his next six, most of them coming from beyond the 3-point line. He hit them wide open. He hit them contested. Ross even dribbled away from the low block and swished a step-back, half-turnaround 3 with 3:48 left to give the Huskies a 10-point lead.

And for good measure, Ross threw down an alley-oop dunk while being fouled by Marcus Capers on Washington's next possession. Ross finished 9 of 21 shooting, including six 3-pointers and was 6 of 9 at the free-throw line. If his night wasn't impressive enough, he also grabbed 14 rebounds as the Huskies held a decisive 46-24 advantage on the boards.

The performance by Ross was even more valuable since Washington was without starting guard C.J. Wilcox after a second MRI revealed a stress fracture in his right femur near his hip. He had been bothered by the injury for about a month and Romar said doctors believe the injury can heal itself but Wilcox needs rest. He is doubtful to play next week.

Tony Wroten added 13 points for Washington, which remained a half-game behind Stanford and California in the Pac-12 standings. And both Bay Area schools make a visit to Seattle next week, giving the Huskies a chance at holding first place by the end of next weekend.

Faisal Aden led Washington State with 18 points, but the Cougars (9-8, 1-4) went eight minutes of the second half with just one field goal. Brock Motum added 17 points for Washington State, but 13 of those came in the first half.

The Cougars used a 2-3 zone to frustrate the Huskies for the entire first half, but the rebounding disparity kept Washington close. The Cougars then had to come out of the zone as Ross and others heated up from the perimeter in the second half and the Huskies athleticism took over in the closing minutes.

"The offensive boards really hurt us badly. They did what they needed to do at the end of the game," Washington State coach Ken Bone said. "That last 8 or 10 minutes, they were really good, and we struggled to make 3s. Second half, I think we hit two, they hit seven. It's 15 points and it's a big difference."

Romar also deserves an assist for Washington's remarkable turnaround.

First was his decision to move Wroten to the high post position in the second half to attack the Cougars zone defense. That took Wroten off the perimeter and opened up more shooting lanes for Ross and others.

Then came Romar's well-timed technical.

"Sometimes you just have to defend your team," Romar said.

Romar nearly ripped off his suit jacket in the process of picking up his first technical foul of the season from referee Mike Reed. Aden hit both free throws to give the Cougars a 47-37 lead with 12:16 remaining.

Then Washington's charge began.

Ross tipped in a drive from Wroten that was perilously close to basket interference. Gant hit an open 3 from the corner and after Aden scored, Aziz N'Diaye scored on the interior and Wroten converted a three-point play in transition to cut the Washington State lead to 49-47 with exactly 10 minutes left.

Washington State's next possession ended in a tie-up that had Bone lunging on the floor to try and call a timeout before the tie-up and slipping to the deck, his dress shoes leaving a black streak on the floor.

But it was Washington that kept streaking. Wroten added another free throw and dunks on consecutive possessions from Gant - the second on a perfect lob from Abdul Gaddy - gave Washington the lead, its first since 2-0. N'Diaye scored again and another set of 3s from Gant and Ross gave Washington a 60-51 lead before Aden's two free throws finally slowed the streak.

Ross then added his final two highlights to a night that'll be long remembered. Washington had just two turnovers and shot 47 percent in the second half.

"We've had some big wins here in this building and some big games, but that's going to be a win I won't forget because of the way we went about our business," Romar said.