Washington fends off Colorado State in Acrisure Invitational play

Field Level Media|published: Thu 28th November, 21:02 2024

Oct 3, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle takes a question at the podium during the 2024 Big Ten Menís Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

Tyler Harris scored 24 points and Washington used a late run to fend off Colorado State 73-67 Thursday afternoon at the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif.

The Huskies (5-1) won their fourth straight and also got 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from center Great Osobor, a transfer from Utah State.

Nique Clifford's 13 points and nine rebounds led Colorado State (3-3), which lost its third straight game. Jalen Lake scored 12 and Kyan Evans added 11.

Washington will face Santa Clara in the invitational's championship game Friday, while Colorado State will meet TCU in the third-place game.

Harris, who was a West Coast Conference all-freshman selection last year for the University of Portland, drove to the basket with no one to defend him as he reached the rim and scored for a 66-58 Huskies lead. That capped off a 10-0 run with 2:41 to go.

But the Rams made it 67-65 with 45.7 seconds to play, when Evans hit a 3-pointer. They couldn't reclaim the lead, however, as the Huskies sealed their win with six free throws, four from Mekhi Mason inside of 21 seconds left.

The Huskies surged to a pair of eight-point leads in the second half, but the Rams wouldn't go away. Clifford's 3 with 9:58 to play trimmed it to 51-49 for the Huskies, then Lake connected from long range to make it 53-52 Washington.

Colorado State took a 57-56 lead with two Lake free throws at the 7:20 mark, but moments later the Huskies went ahead 59-58 on a triple by Mason.

Osobor had 13 points, six assists and five rebounds in the second half, causing problems for the Rams' defense.

The first half saw Harris score 14 points, knocking down 5 of 7 shots, including three 3-pointers. Washington, with two Harris 3s and one from Zoom Diallo, scored 13 points in a row after trailing 4-0.

But a 10-1 run put Colorado State in front 20-17 with 11:12 to play in the half. Colorado State didn't trail the rest of the half and took a 28-26 lead into the break.

--Field Level Media

Latest