Following a trend they’ve established in recent weeks, the Huskies turned a game that was close in the first half into a comfortable victory on Thursday night; this time, the victims were the USC Trojans, by the score of 78-73.

Victory earned at the line

This was a game that was won at the free throw line, pure and simple. The starting backcourt of Justin Dentmon and Isaiah Thomas alone almost doubled the entire Trojan output from the stripe, 25-13; overall, the Huskies shot an astounding 23 more foul shots than the Trojans and put them in at an 80 percent clip, making 32 out of 40 attempts. Dentmon was especially impressive, making all 11 of his free throws as he and Thomas took the ball to the hole at will. Thomas had a tough time early, missing five of his first nine shots; but with the chance to ice the game, he came up clutch and drained this last three free throws in the waning seconds.

Brockman's shooting woes don't hurt Dawgs

This is a victory that should put the rest of the conference on notice, if they weren’t already paying attention to what has been going on in Seattle; the Huskies won even though senior John Brockman didn’t make a field goal for the first time since his freshman season, and finished with only four points; he did contribute with 13 rebounds, however.

If the Dawgs had lost this game, they would have fallen into a tie w/ USC and Arizona State w/ a 4-2 record in the Pac-10; with their win, however, coupled with Cal’s stunning home loss to OSU, they stay tied w/ UCLA atop the division, setting up a matchup in Seattle on Saturday with first place on the line, while Cal fell into 2^nd with two conference losses.

Big nights for Thomas and Dentmon

The first half was close throughout; the Trojans held a six point lead with five minutes to go in the half, but the Huskies used a 14-7 to take a lead into the locker room. The Huskies then used a 9-2 second half run to go up 8 and never looked back. The strong second half was keyed by Thomas, who scored all but one of his 17 points in the second frame. He outscored fellow freshman-of-the-year candidate DeMar DeRozen by a point for the game, but DeRozen disappeared in the second half, only scoring four points down the stretch.

Thomas’s partner in crime on Thursday was Justin Dentmon, who was unconscious all game; he shot 3-4 from 3 pt range in addition to his perfect night from the free throw stripe to lead the Huskies with 22 points. Three other Huskies scored in double figures, including Sophomore forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning with 12 off the bench.

Huskies making a strong case to move into the national polls

The next several weeks will be a make or break stretch for the Huskies, with the game against the Bruins followed by a four game road trip to the Arizona and Bay Area schools; if they can continue to get to the free throw line and make them like they have recently, and continue their habit of dominating 2^nd halves, they will come out of the gauntlet at or near the top.