Washington beats Georgia, advances in NCAA tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Down seven points late in the first half of their NCAA tournament opener, the Washington Huskies didn't rattle.

Against Georgia's stingy defense, they were dreadful offensively early on and missed 12 of their first 14 three-pointers before Isaiah Thomas got them going.

In his last outing, Thomas won the game with a last-second buzzer beater for the ages.

This time he knifed into the Bulldogs defense, spun to his right in traffic and converted a difficult off-balance layup as time expired before the break.

The basket gave Washington's dormant offense a big lift, knotting the score at 28 at halftime.

The Huskies carried the momentum into the second half as they took control shortly after intermission and hung on for a 68-65 victory.

"I know teams are going to go on runs in the NCAA tournament," Thomas said. "We feel like we have a lot of experience that we can stop (those) runs. Our guys did a great job because Georgia made a couple runs, but we settled down and just got some stops."

Washington had a 10-point lead (63-53) with 2:03 remaining, but the Bulldogs made a frantic comeback.

Redshirt freshman C.J. Wilcox had a chance to seal the game with a pair of free throws with four seconds left and UW leading 67-65.

He converted the first attempt and missed the second, which gave Georgia one last chance to prolong the game.

Georgia forward Jeremy Price collected the rebound and threw a Hail Mary pass to junior guard Travis Leslie.

Thomas nearly stole the pass, but the ball bounced out of his hands.

The Huskies didn't breathe easy until Leslie's desperate three-pointer bounced off the backboard as time expired.

"I (saw) it fall out of Isaiah Thomas' hands," Leslie said. "It was open. So I went for it. Tried to throw up a lucky shot. It just didn't fall."

The victory sends No. 7 Washington (24-10) to Sunday's 9:15 a.m. East region quarterfinal against second-seed North Carolina (27-7).

The schools have met only once before, an 89-72 Tar Heels win on Dec. 29, 1972.

"That's every player's dream," junior forward Darnell Gant said. "You grow up wanting to play Duke and North Carolina. You want to be in a situation like this.

"We're basically in their backyard. It's going to be a fun game. Exciting game. We came to here to show the world what UW means and we'll be ready."

Before the Huskies could think about seventh-ranked North Carolina, they had to overcome a 23-16 deficit with 5:52 left in the first half.

Thomas sent them into the locker room tied, and the veteran-laden Huskies regrouped.

"We've been in that situation before plenty of times," Gant said. "If we get down, we got a chance to come back. There's always a chance to come back. We don't panic. We play the way we play and most of the time we come back."

Gant, who started in place of Wilcox, was one of many unsung heroes for Washington.

He provided solid defense against the Bulldogs' big front line and drained a three-pointer early in the second half. The basket put UW ahead 40-32 and capped a 12-4 run.

Thomas led UW with 19 points, but the Huskies won the game because their bench — led by Scott Suggs' 10 points — outscored Georgia's reserves 28-0.

"It was that and being the more experienced team," Gant said. "Being experienced helped us a lot."

The Huskies are making their third straight NCAA tournament appearance and claimed their fifth straight tournament-opening win.

No. 10 Georgia bowed out after making its first tournament appearance in three years.

"We felt like if we could control the tempo, we'd give ourselves a chance to win," Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said. "I have to give them credit. They made the plays in the second half.

"We made too many mistakes to finish the game, but we lost to a good basketball team and there's no shame in that."

Georgia forward Trey Thomkins, who finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, believes Washington has a bright future.

"They're strong and they know how to score," he said. "They got a floor leader in Isaiah Thomas who knows what play to make every single possession.

"I expect them to go deep into the tournament."

Percentages: FG .433, FT .857. Three-point goals: 4-18, .222 (Suggs 2-5, Gant 1-2, Wilcox 1-4, Overton 0-1, Ross 0-2, Holiday 0-2, Thomas 0-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Bryan-Amaning). Turnovers: 5 (Thomas 2, Wilcox, N'Diaye, Suggs). Steals: 6 (Holiday 2, Thomas 2, Ross, Bryan-Amaning).

Attendance: 16,852. Officials: Steve Olson, Don Daily, Hal Lusk.