From the opening minutes of yesterday's game against No. 25 Stanford, Spencer Hawes wanted to prove something. In his return to the starting lineup — he had been coming off the bench since the Oregon game on Jan. 25 — Hawes made sure that his recent struggles were an aberration, scoring a game-high 18 points in the Huskies' 64-52 win at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

With the win, Washington (16-8 overall, 6-7 Pac-10) improved to 12-1 on its home court, and for the second time in a row swept its opponents for the weekend. It also marks coach Lorenzo Romar's 100th win at the UW.

Hawes was most dominant in the win — a victory made even better for the 7-foot freshman because of his struggles against the Cardinal in the previous meeting.

Against Stanford earlier in the season, Hawes had just six points and eight rebounds, but came out with a purpose last night.

"Any time you have a game like that you want to redeem yourself," Hawes said. "And I think I did a good job of that tonight."

The center was the main force for the Huskies in the second half, scoring 12 of his 18 after the break. While both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the second, Hawes came out strong, scoring eight of the Huskies first nine points.

Not only did he have a big night against Stanford, but also against California just three days before. The back-to-back strong games have Romar excited that his center is apparently healthy.

"It's no coincidence," Romar said. "If a person is getting healthy he is going to play better. It's hard in sports to make excuses, but you have to look at the facts."

Sophomore Jon Brockman turned in another solid performance for Washington in the win, garnering his 11th double-double of the season, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also had the difficult task of going up against the Cardinal's Brook Lopez for much of the game.

Lopez — a freshman of coach Trent Johnson's Cardinal — has been a force in the middle all season, but Brockman was not going to allow the shot-blocking specialist alter his game.

"I was just thinking, 'Who cares if they block my shots?'" Brockman said. "I was just going to keep pounding it and keep pounding it."

The philosophy worked well, allowing Brockman to reach the free throw line 10 times. Lopez, meanwhile, was held to just six points and four rebounds — his lowest point total since Jan. 18 against Oregon.

Romar also was quick to praise his team's defense in the win, saying it was the best collective effort they've put together on that side of the ball.

The Cardinal ended the game with just one player — Lawrence Hill — in double figures with 15 points, and were held to just 52 points, the lowest total by a UW opponent in Pac-10 play.

"We played really intense," said freshman Quincy Pondexter. "Even though we didn't shoot the ball that great, we made some good plays. We're starting to understand, and starting to like playing defense now."

Reach reporter Justin Chartrey at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.