Washington – Connecticut was as careless as a top seed can be – and got away with it.
Despite a season-high 26 turnovers and a 10-point second- half deficit, Connecticut rallied to force overtime on Rashad Anderson’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation.
Then the Huskies of the Big East held off the foul-depleted Huskies of the Pac-10 in the extra period for a 98-92 victory Friday night and a place in the NCAA’s Elite Eight.
Marcus Williams, who got an earful from coach Jim Calhoun during a careless stretch in the first half, recovered to score a career-high 26 points as Connecticut advanced to regional finals for the sixth time in 12 years. UConn (30-3) will play for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday against 11th-seeded George Mason.
Connecticut did its best to give the game away, even late in overtime. Rudy Gay, taking the ball out of bounds with UConn leading by two with 16 seconds remaining, committed the 26th turnover when his inbounds pass was intercepted by Washington guard Ryan Appleby.
But Appleby passed to Joel Smith, who threw the ball right back to UConn. Williams picked off the pass, was fouled, and then made both free throws with 11.3 seconds to play.
Senior Jamaal Williams came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points, including the first 3-pointer of his college career, to lead fifth-seeded Washington (26-7). The Huskies failed to hold a 10-point lead with 15 minutes to play and began to run out of players down the stretch: two fouled out in regulation, and two more in overtime.
Connecticut has yet to hit its stride in the tournament. UConn had to rally from 12 points down to beat 16th-seeded Albany and struggled to hold off Kentucky.
Calhoun warned on Thursday that his Huskies were “a team of lapses,” and he was prophetic.
