Using solid defense and balanced scoring, Washington led almost the entire game, holding off Chandler Hutchison and Boise State for a 77-74 win Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

Jaylen Nowell paced the fifth-seeded Huskies (21-12) with 25 points, while Matisse Thybulle added 18 and Noah Dickerson chipped in 13 points. Despite being the lesser seed, Washington got home-court advantage due to an arena conflict in Boise and parlayed it into a second round matchup at top-seeded Saint Mary's on Monday night.

Hutchison poured in a game-high 39 points in the final game of his excellent college career, hauling in 14 rebounds and playing all 40 minutes for the fourth-seeded Broncos (23-9). Christian Sengfelder added his own double-double with 15 points and 14 boards, but the duo got little help from their teammates.

Hutchison and Sengfelder combined to make 18 of 33 shots, but the Broncos' remaining players teamed to hit 5 of 32. By contrast, the Huskies were 27 of 57 from the floor and also made their free throws in the fourth quarter, going 9-for-9.

Washington threw the first punch, scoring seven straight points to establish an 11-5 lead on Dickerson's dunk with 3:01 left in the first quarter. Boise State closed within a point, but a 3-pointer by David Crisp with 33 seconds remaining gave the Huskies a 16-12 advantage after a quarter.

That was a sign of coming attractions in the second quarter. Washington scored the first six points, taking its first double-digit lead with 7:43 on the clock after a Sam Timmins dunk, and kept growing the lead. The margin reached 17 in the final minute on another 3-pointer by Crisp before the Broncos cut it to 36-21 heading into halftime.

The gap was still 16 halfway through the third quarter when Hutchison spearheaded a run to bring Boise State into contention. He scored nine points in the final 4:04 of the period, capping it with a layup off a steal to pull the Broncos within 48-45 going to the fourth quarter.

However, Boise State wasn't able to complete the comeback. The Broncos had two shots at a tie after a Sengfelder steal with three seconds left, but Lexus Williams had one 3-point attempt blocked and missed another one as time expired.

--Field Level Media