SEATTLE _ The jam-packed Alaska Airlines Arena, which was crammed to the rafters with Huskies fans Sunday night, waited all night for a reason to explode and unleash years worth of frustration.
At times it felt as if the building might erupt when No. 22 Washington came within striking distance of surging past No. 9 Gonzaga.
However, the 48th meeting of this in-state rivalry that began in 1910 ended just like the past five meetings � with a Zags win.
This time the Bulldogs held on for an 83-76 victory.
After last year's 81-79 defeat in Spokane, the Huskies believed they had narrowed the gap with their in-state nemesis, which has won 13 of the past 14 games against UW.
Washington brought in arguably its most talented team since its last win over GU in 2005, including freshmen Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels, who are projected first-round picks in next year's NBA draft.
And yet Gonzaga built an early lead and withstood every run the Huskies made in the second half.
When McDaniels canned a three-pointer at the top of the key that cut UW's deficit to 72-70 with 3:51 left, the crowd burst into ear-splitting "Go-Huskies!" chants the reverberated around the arena.
That's when Killian Tillie and Nahziah Carter traded three-pointers. The Bulldogs scored back-to-back layups when Carter struck again from downtown to narrow GU's lead to 79-76 with less than two minutes left.
And finally, Joel Ayayi finished off the Huskies with a dagger three-pointer that gave Gonzaga an 82-76 lead.
Gonzaga received a balanced scoring attack that had all five starters score in double figures.
Filip Petrusev led the Bulldogs (10-1) with 17 points while Ryan Woolridge had 16, Corey Kispert and Tillie had 15 each and Ayayi 12.
Stewart had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds while putting on a showcase for the 30 NBA scouts at the game. McDaniels and Carter added 15 each and Quade Green chipped in 14 for Washington (7-2).
UW started out in a 2-3 zone for the first time in seven games. The switch in defensive schemes didn't prevent GU from jumping out to an early 13-7 lead.
The Huskies cut their deficit to 13-11 before GU used a 7-0 run to go ahead 22-14.
Washington shot over 53% before the break, but at times the Huskies were their own worst enemy while committing 12 first-half turnovers that led to 12 points.
Gonzaga led 41-37 at halftime.
The packed house included former Huskies stars Quincy Pondexter and Dejounte Murray.
