For the first time in 2,926 days, after a seven-year hiatus Washington has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating No. 8 seed Utah State 78-61 on Friday.

The No. 9 seeded Huskies (27-8) leaned on a double-double from senior Noah Dickerson, who scored a game-high 20 points and hauled down 12 rebounds as one of four players in double figures.

Sophomore forward Nahziah Carter recorded his first career points in the tournament at the 9:31 mark in the first half, converting after Dickerson got an offensive rebound after Carter missed a 3-point attempt.

It sparked an 8-0 scoring run to give UW the 22-17 lead with 7:41 remaining before halftime, a lead they never relinquished over the remaining 28 minutes.

Utah State was held to its second-lowest first half scoring output with just 28 points, one more than the team managed against No. 6 ranked Nevada back on January 2. The Aggies entered the tournament losing only once in their last 18 games as one of the hottest teams in the country.

That heat showed up coming out to start the second half.

Utah State an early 5-0 run to trim down the UW 17-point halftime lead, and later another scoring run to cut the deficit to five, 51-61, with 11:26 remaining. The Aggies managed to make it a one possession game several minutes later, before the Huskies closed out the victory in control.

Dickerson recorded his final three rebounds in the second half, all on the defensive end of the court, moving him passed Bob Houbregs for No. 6 all-time in program history for career rebounds with 973.