Keion Brooks Jr. recorded 16 points and three blocked shots to lead Washington to a 62-57 victory over Fresno State on Wednesday night in the Wooden Legacy at Anaheim, Calif.
The Huskies (4-1) forced 21 turnovers and led by as many as 14 points in the second half.
Washington will face either Saint Mary’s or Vanderbilt in Thursday’s championship game. The Gaels and Commodores were slated to play later Wednesday night.
Isaih Moore had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Fresno State (1-4), which lost its fourth straight game.
The Bulldogs were without Isaiah Hill (concussion). He will also sit out Thursday.
Washington shot 37.9 percent from the field and made 5 of 23 (21.7 percent) from 3-point range.
Fresno State made 37.7 percent of its shots and was 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) from behind the arc. The Bulldogs held a 44-33 rebounding advantage.
The Huskies, who were down by one at halftime, opened the second half with a 16-4 burst and held a 43-32 lead after a dunk by Franck Kepnang with 12:57 left.
Brooks later scored eight straight Washington points and the lead was 53-39 with 9:52 to play.
Fresno State answered with eight points in a row. Jemarl Baker Jr. capped the spurt with a 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within six with 6:19 remaining.
The Huskies expanded the lead to 10 before Donavan Yap scored on a layup and Anthony Holland drained a 3-pointer to move Fresno State within 57-52 with 3:57 left.
Kepnang scored on a monster dunk with 2:35 remaining to give Washington a seven-point lead. Nobody scored again until Leo Colimerio converted a three-point play to pull the Bulldogs within 59-55 with 37.8 seconds left.
PJ Fuller II made two free throws with 30.5 seconds to go as the Huskies held on.
Fresno State led 28-27 after a basket by Baker with 1.5 seconds left in the first half.
The Bulldogs started strong, scoring the game’s first eight points. Washington missed its first seven shots until Fuller hit a turnaround jumper with 15:08 left in the half.
Menifield scored the final five points of a 7-0 run to give the Huskies a 12-11 edge with 10:38 left before intermission.
–Field Level Media
