Wildcat senior pounces on Huskies

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior forward Michael Dickerson (23) goes up for a shot against Washington junior Patrick Femerling (22) last night at McKale Center. The Wildcats took a seven point lead at half-time and blew the game open early in the second half as they crushed Washington 112-81.

The UA forward was unconscious from the floor and set a new school record for field goal percentage in a half by going 11 for 11 in the second half last night to lead Arizona past Washington 112-81. For the game he was 13 for 16.

"I'll bet his hand was about 250 degrees at that point," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said.

The old record was 10 for 10 by Larry Demic against Oregon State in 1979. Even sophomore Mike Bibby, who had 22 points of his own, was in awe.

"We didn't even have to run down the court," he said. "Either way, it was going in."

After Dickerson's final bucket, he kissed his hand and pointed to the sky in acknowledgment of the God who guides him. The 14,551 in attendance at McKale Center gave the senior a standing ovation.

"With God on my side, anything is possible," Dickerson said.

The Huskies, on the other hand, probably thought stopping Dickerson was not possible. Washington trailed by just seven at halftime but then Dickerson decided to play a one man game of "Around the World."

He hit the Wildcats' first three baskets - two of them three-pointers. The Huskies had just one field goal in the first five minutes of the second half. Dickerson had six.

The Huskies scored 38 points in the second half, Dickerson had 25.

While nobody's field goal percentage came close to Dickerson's, all of UA's players had quality nights from the field. As a team, the Wildcats shot 63 percent for the game and had six players in double figures.

On any other night, the talk of the game would have been Bibby. He added five rebounds, five assists and five steals to go with his 22 points. Jason Terry had 12 points and seven assists off the bench. Miles Simon had 11 points. A.J. Bramlett and Donnell Harris each finished with 10 points.

Again, though, it was defense that sparked the fourth-ranked Wildcats. When UA went into its fullcourt pressure defense at the start of the second half, the Huskies began to wither. Todd MacCulloch finished with 26 points but had only eight in the second half. He also had a game-high 15 rebounds, but just six in the second half. The Huskies other 7-footer, Patrick Femerling, ended the night with just seven points.

"They were tired from having to run up and down with us," Bramlett said.

Olson agreed.

"We really wore (Washington) down," he said. "Five minutes in, or less, you could see their legs were gone."

So were their chances.

"I'm proud of how we played in the first half," UW coach Bob Bender said. "But in the second half we got no better."

With the loss, the Huskies fell to 13-6 overall, 6-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference. The win gave Arizona its 11th-straight 20-win season and extended the team's current winning streak to 13 games.

Perhaps most impressive is the fashion in which they are winning.

The Wildcats have yet to win a conference game by less than 12 points. Just one of the team's 20 victories has come by less than 10 - an 88-81 decision over Texas on Dec. 6.

"The thing I respect," UW coach Bob Bender said, "is that this team keeps getting better and better and better."