Washington renewed their Apple Cup rivalry with Washington State for a preseason exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 23 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
The Cougars defeated the Huskies 84-80 behind Ronnie Harrison’s 23 points and 11 rebounds. Four other Cougars hit double digits in scoring, led by Lazerek Houston, who scored 15 points on a 12-of-14 clip from the free-throw line.
Lejuan Watts led the Huskies with 28 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a 12-of-13 clip from the free-throw line. Lathan Sommerville scored 19 points shooting 6-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. Nikola Dzepina scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double.
The Cougars started the game on a 6-2 run on a three-point basket by Harrison and a three-point play by Dominik Robinson.
The Huskies returned the favor with a 10-0 run strengthened by a pair of three-pointers to lead 12-6 with 15:33 left in the first half.
The Huskies run extended to 20-6, highlighted by Dzepina’s eight points and punctuated by a slam dunk by Jasir Rencher to put Washington up 22-12 with 12:46 left in the first half.
Dzepina reached the double-digit scoring mark as the Huskies led the Cougars 26-17 with 7:53 left in the first half.
Casey Jones hits a three-pointer as the Cougars claw back within three, trailing the Huskies 27-24 with six minutes left in the half. Washington State tied the game 29-29 on a layup by Mohamed Sankhe with 4:35 left until halftime.
The Cougars took a 38-37 lead going into halftime by reaching the free-throw line often. They were 13-of-17 from the charity stripe during the first half and went on to make 31-of-46 throughout the game.
The Huskies started the season half on a run punctuated by a slam dunk by Dzepina to go up 50-42.
The Cougars struck back and a fast-break dunk by Harrison put Washington State back up 66-62 with five minutes remaining in the game.
The Cougars maintained their lead over the Huskies for the rest of the game. The Huskies made it close late and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but missed the three-point shot.
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