Washington stuns No. 9 Arizona 78-75 with Dominic Green’s buzzer beater

Somewhere in the middle of a mosh pit at midcourt, Dominic Green, the unlikeliest of heroes, exchanged embraces with just about everyone who ran onto the Alaska Airlines Arena court.

The Washington students tried hoisting him on their shoulders and carrying him off the court like a conquering gladiator.

And who could blame them, since the junior guard lifted the Huskies to their biggest win in over a decade.

Green drained a three-point dagger from 22 feet at the buzzer that downed No. 9 Arizona and gave Washington an amazing 78-75 win Saturday night.

DOMINIC GREEN AT THE BUZZER

Huskies knock off No. 9 Arizona for their fourth straight win to improve to 17-6 (7-3 Pac-12) pic.twitter.com/rFzcyDc9N2

— Seattle Times Sports (@SeaTimesSports) February 4, 2018

“I work on those kind of shots every day,” said Green, a three-point specialist who is shooting over 53 percent behind the arc against Pac-12 teams. He finished with 14 points while connecting on 4 of 5 from downtown.

“It was a rhythm shot for me. As soon as I let it go, I fell down and saw it out of the corner of my eye. It was all net.”

A perfect ending for the Huskies came on an imperfect play on the last possession.

Tied at 75, UW coach Mike Hopkins called for a clear-out play for Jaylen Nowell, who has sank several clutch baskets late in games.

However, this time the freshman guard drove into the middle, where 7-foot-1 freshman center DeAndre Ayton, a projected top-three pick in this year’s NBA draft, emphatically swatted away Nowell’s attempt.

The rejection went straight to Green, who rose up before an Arizona defender could arrive for a three-pointer that hit the bottom of the net.

“Sometimes the best three-point shot you can get is off an offensive rebound, because guys are scrambling,” Hopkins said. “(Green) gets the shot up. He gets hit.

“When he shoots, I think it’s going in. In that moment, a lot of stuff is going on and you’re just going like, your body is trying to spiritually put it into the hole. And then you see it, it’s just like pure mayhem.”

Mayhem indeed.

Many of the sellout crowd spilled onto the court — the first time UW fans have rushed the court since March 7, 2009 — and engulfed the Huskies.

“It was a great experience,” Green said. “It was fun. … Walking around high-fiving. Hugging my teammates. It felt like a moment that you’ll never forget.

“I was really nervous. Just because something like that has never happened, so it gave me the butterflies.”

Noah Dickerson outplayed Ayton and finished with 25 points while David Crisp added 16 points and Nowell had 14 for the Huskies, who improved to 17-6 and remained in third place in the Pac-12 at 7-3.

The win snapped UW’s eight-game losing streak to Arizona.

The Wildcats (19-5, 9-2), who entered the game with seven straight wins, received 21 points from center Dusan Ristic. Allonzo Trier had 20 and Ayton 19.

In addition to an incredible finish, this game had it all.

It began with the emotional return of Lorenzo Romar, the Arizona associate head coach who spent the past 15 years guiding the UW team, with a long and warm reception before the game. Romar exchanged long embraces with each member of the UW staff, particularly with Cameron Dollar, his former assistant, and Hopkins.

The Huskies never trailed in the first half and stymied an Arizona offense that entered the game averaging 82.5 points. Washington held the Wildcats to 36.4 percent shooting and their second-fewest points in the first half while taking a 35-28 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Huskies squandered a 14-point lead in the second half before Green sank what he described as the “biggest shot of my life.”

“I’ve always thought about … when is the day that I’m going to be able to hit a game-winning shot like that,” Green said. “And today it happened. My dream came true. But you know, it’s not over from here. We’ve got a lot more to do and this ain’t the end of the road.”