Points Come Easy for Washington

The Washington Huskies think they’re playing their best basketball of the season, and they look ready to make a run at the Pacific 10 Conference championship.

“We committed 24 turnovers, but after that there’s nothing that I can complain about,” Coach Lorenzo Romar said after the Huskies beat Houston, 110-63, on Friday. “I can’t think of too many more performances that we’ve had that we’ve done a better job through the entire game on both ends of the floor.”

Bobby Jones scored 22 points to lead five Washington players in double figures. Jamaal Williams had 19 points, Tre Simmons and Brandon Roy each scored 16, and Nate Robinson had 11 for the No. 12 Huskies (10-1), who avenged a 15-point loss at Houston last season.

Jones, a starting forward, shot eight for nine and led the Huskies with nine rebounds in 25 minutes. Roy, a junior swingman who is considered Washington’s top all-around player, played in his second game after undergoing knee surgery.

Using its aggressive man-to-man defense, Washington stymied Houston’s offense, forcing 23 turnovers. The Cougars shot only 20 for 64 from the field and made only four of 23 three-point attempts.

“We played like veterans today,” Romar said. “You look at the teams that Houston has played and what they’ve accomplished. They’re not a top 20 team at this point, but they’re no walk in the park.”

Washington scored 100 points or more for the third time in four games and won its sixth in a row since losing to No. 13 Gonzaga by 12 points on Dec. 1.

The Huskies beat Sacred Heart, 114-53, Wednesday night at home, and their 224 points in two games set a school record. It was the second time they scored 100 points in consecutive games and the first since December 1971.

Houston (8-4) was led by Chris Lawson’s career-high 18 points and Andre Owens’ 17. The frustrated Cougars were whistled for three technical fouls.

After the game, first-year Houston Coach Tom Penders criticized the Pac-10 officiating crew. He said the officials allowed the Huskies to hand-check with two hands, use their arms on defense and “knock our guys to the floor.”

“It’s hard to beat five guys, let alone eight,” Penders said. “I would love to play them on a neutral floor or in Houston with Conference USA officials or neutral officials. I think we’d beat them.”

The officials were not available for comment after the game.

Penders said he was afraid that a fight might break out between the teams because the play was so physical.

Asked whether he was concerned about that, Romar said: “A little bit. There was a little concern. But I thought there were a couple of times where there wasn’t really a reason to call a foul and the officials did.”

Washington opens Pac-10 play against California and Stanford next weekend in Seattle.