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Huskies use triple threat to take down Ducks

Just as Oregon hoped, leading rebounder Maarty Leunen was healthy enough to play after spraining his ankle against Stanford, but Washington threw so many weapons at the Ducks that it didn't seem to matter. Jamaal Williams scored 20 points, Brandon Roy had 19 points and Bobby Jones dropped another 15 as the No. 10 ranked Huskies disposed of the Ducks 78-59 while picking up their fourth straight win.
Williams, who finished with just four points on 2 of 12 from the field in Washington's 69-65 victory over Oregon State, was all smiles after tonight's contest. "This was definitely a belated birthday present to myself," said Williams, who turned 23 on Thursday "We definitely let the game come to us. We didn't force shots and we showed patience."
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While Washington's three upper class-men, were sinking shots, the Ducks struggled mightily to find the bottom of the net. Aaron Brooks who usually averages 12.1 per contest, had just four points despite taking 12 shot attempts while teammate Malik Hairston was four of 12 from the field in the first half.
"I thought we had some great looks," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent. "But we didn't make shots when we needed to and Washington did."
The two teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the game. Oregon held a brief 20-16 advantage with 9:20 remaining, but the Huskies slowly began pulling away. The Huskies responded with a 12-4 run and closed the half with a 39-27 lead.
"This was a big win for us," said Husky coach Lorenzo Romar. "Obviously it gave us another win in the standings, but it is a big win as far as I am concerned because of the way we went about our business. Turnovers were minimized and we held (Oregon) below 40 percent shooting."
The Ducks shot 39 percent from the field as a team and were out rebounded by the Huskies 42-26
"(The game) was a disappointment rebounding wise because we worked on it so much," said Kent. "We watched them on tape rebound the ball so well, and I thought they had too many second chance shots."
Roy looked on pace to turn in another career performance for the Huskies. The versatile guard scored 15 of his 19 points before intermission but Roy was scoreless in the second half until he hit a pair of free throws with 4:38 remaining in the game. Despite taking fewer shot attempts, Roy was under no pressure to score in the second half because Williams and Jones shouldered most of the offense for the Huskies following the break, Williams scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half while Jones had eight points in the final frame.
The Ducks attempted to close the gap after the break but Washington's lead was never in jeopardy. The Huskies led by as many as 21 points with 1:31 remaining in the game. Washington received solid contributions from nearly every Husky who stepped on the floor. Justin Dentmon dished out six assists and grabbed seven rebounds while Jon Brockman posted six points and 10 rebounds. Even seldom used guard Brandon Burmeister saw eight minutes of action while sinking a three pointer for the Huskies.
"Tonight, finally our offense clicked with our defense," said Roy. "It was all around a much better game." The Huskies overcame poor shooting against the Beavers in the first half to pull out the victory by turning to their defense.
Washington will go on the road to play California, Stanford, and Washington State before returning to Bank of America Arena to face USC. With the win, the Huskies improve to 16-2 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-10 while Oregon drops to 10-9 overall and 4-3 against conference opponents.
"Roy is a great player, but he's not the whole team," said Hairston, who finished with a team high 17 points. "Washington showed us that tonight. We didn't play like Oregon. We just have to look ahead and work hard and keep our heads up."
Points: Williams 20, Roy 19, Jones 15, Jensen 8, Brockman 6, Dentmon 4, Burmeister 3, Appleby 3
Rebounds: Brockman 10, Dentmon 7, Williams 6, Jones 5, Roy 4, Jensen 4 Potter, Gasser
Assists: Dentmon 6, Roy 6, Jones, Williams, Brockman, Smith, Gasser
Steals: Brockman 2, Jones, Roy, Dentmon, Appleby
Blocks: Williams, Roy
Turnovers: Dentmon 6, Appleby 2, Brockman 2 Jensen
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