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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, March 12, 2009

CBKB: Pac-10: No. 13 Washington beats Stanford 85-73

By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES — Jon Brockman scored 20 points, Isaiah Thomas sparked a decisive second-half spurt with nine points and No. 13 Washington defeated Stanford 85-73 in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday.

The Huskies (25-7) will play 23rd-ranked Arizona State (23-8) in Friday's semifinals at Staples Center.

Anthony Goods scored 26 points after getting 23 in a win against Oregon State on Wednesday night for the Cardinal, who were sent packing a year after losing to UCLA in the title game.

Washington, the tournament's top seed for the first time, has won six in a row and nine of its last 10. The Huskies completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinal (18-13) by winning the teams' first meeting in the tournament since 2005.

Landry Fields had 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and freshman Jeremy Green added 13 points for Stanford, which fell to 11-11 all-time in the tournament. Those two, along with Goods, combined for 55 of Stanford's points, while starter Lawrence Hill finished with four points on 2-of-14 shooting.

The Cardinal kept it close throughout the first half, when the game was tied eight times.

Tied at 27-all, the Huskies outscored the Cardinal 11-8 to end the half ahead 38-35. Elston Turner hit three consecutive 3-pointers and Justin Holiday dunked in the spurt. The Cardinal got two 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater by Kenny Brown, who finished with 11.

But Thomas, who missed all six of his shots in the first half, suddenly found his shooting touch.

The freshman ran off seven points in a row and hit another basket, and Brockman added five points, during Washington's 16-11 run that opened the second half and put the Huskies ahead for good, 54-46.

Thomas finished with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds.

The Cardinal cut their deficit to five points four times down the stretch, twice on baskets by Goods and twice by Green. But Washington always answered, and scored 12 in a row to pull away.

The Huskies won the regular season title outright for the first time since 1953, and are going for their first Pac-10 tournament championship since 2005.