Published: Saturday, November 14, 2009
UW men bounce Belmont
The Huskies use balanced scoring to defeat Belmont 96-78
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Joe Nicholson / Associated Press
Washington’s Tyreese Breshers (33) drives past Belmont’s Scott Saunders.
SEATTLE — One night after guard Isaiah Thomas put on a one-man scoring show against Wright State, the University of Washington spread the points more evenly Saturday in a 96-78 victory over Belmont University in the Athletes in Action Classic at Bank of America Arena.
And on a night of many heroes, no one gave the Huskies a bigger lift than their big man, 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning.
Bryan-Amaning, a product of London, England, sparked an early second-half run as Washington pulled away against Belmont. He had 15 of his 23 points in the first 10 minutes of the period as the Huskies expanded a 10-point halftime margin into a 22-point bulge.
By game’s end, Bryan-Amaning had converted 11 of 14 attempts from the field to go with seven rebounds and a game-best five blocked shots, all in just 24 minutes. His 23 points tied his career high set against Portland State a year ago.
“He’s a tremendous talent,” said UW senior guard-forward Quincy Pondexter, who tied his career best with 25 points to go with 11 rebounds, both game highs. “He’s one of the best big men in the Pac-10 and I think he’ll have a chance to prove that this year.”
The 2009-10 Huskies returned most of the players from last year’s Pac-10 championship team, but the biggest loss to graduation was forward Jon Brockman, now with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. This season, the Huskies are asking Bryan-Amaning to help fill the void.
“A lot of us talk about, and the coaching staff talks about, how the whole team is going to have to (replace Brockman),” Bryan-Amaning said. “But being the oldest post and the guy who’s been in the system the longest, I take it to heart a bit more than the other guys do.
“Jon’s not in the picture (this season) … so it’s something I have to try to work on, to try to be consistent, to put up big numbers or high rebounds or blocked shots every single night,” he said.
Thomas, meanwhile, followed up his 30-point effort against Wright State with 23 points against Belmont. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
The Huskies broke on top early and never trailed in the game, and the score was only tied once late in the first half. Still, Belmont stayed close, mostly because the visiting Bruins shot the ball well, converting 14 of 25 chances from the field in the first period, including 5-for-11 from the 3-point line.
Washington, meanwhile, was ragtag at times, but still with decidedly too much firepower for Belmont, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in Nashville, Tenn. The only question mark in the final few minutes was whether Washington could crack 100 points — alas, the Huskies came up just short.
Still, it was a much better UW showing than the night before, when Washington sputtered in a 74-69 season-debut win against Wright State.
“A lot of jitters happened in the first game,” Pondexter said. “Guys missed shots and were not quite playing like themselves. I think we got all that out of our system and moved forward.”
“Tonight we made some progress,” agreed UW head coach Lorenzo Romar.
The Huskies finished with a handsome 48-24 rebound margin, and that was a point of emphasis by Romar before the game.
“A lot of people attacked the boards,” he said. “We had a concerted effort to out-rebound them.”
Belmont coach Rick Byrd came away impressed with several Huskies. Thomas “may be as hard to guard, driving the basketball, as anybody I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Pondexter is awfully good all over the floor, and when (Bryan-Amaning) played like he did tonight … (Washington) is an awfully good basketball team.”
In Saturday’s first game, Wright State defeated Portland State, 75-70.
The three-day tournament concludes today with Belmont facing Wright State at 4:30 p.m., and Washington taking on Portland State at 7 p.m.
Former UW coach Marv Harshman was honored at halftime Saturday by the Athletes in Action. Harshman, who recently turned 92, is a frequent spectator at UW home games.
And on a night of many heroes, no one gave the Huskies a bigger lift than their big man, 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning.
Bryan-Amaning, a product of London, England, sparked an early second-half run as Washington pulled away against Belmont. He had 15 of his 23 points in the first 10 minutes of the period as the Huskies expanded a 10-point halftime margin into a 22-point bulge.
By game’s end, Bryan-Amaning had converted 11 of 14 attempts from the field to go with seven rebounds and a game-best five blocked shots, all in just 24 minutes. His 23 points tied his career high set against Portland State a year ago.
“He’s a tremendous talent,” said UW senior guard-forward Quincy Pondexter, who tied his career best with 25 points to go with 11 rebounds, both game highs. “He’s one of the best big men in the Pac-10 and I think he’ll have a chance to prove that this year.”
The 2009-10 Huskies returned most of the players from last year’s Pac-10 championship team, but the biggest loss to graduation was forward Jon Brockman, now with the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. This season, the Huskies are asking Bryan-Amaning to help fill the void.
“A lot of us talk about, and the coaching staff talks about, how the whole team is going to have to (replace Brockman),” Bryan-Amaning said. “But being the oldest post and the guy who’s been in the system the longest, I take it to heart a bit more than the other guys do.
“Jon’s not in the picture (this season) … so it’s something I have to try to work on, to try to be consistent, to put up big numbers or high rebounds or blocked shots every single night,” he said.
Thomas, meanwhile, followed up his 30-point effort against Wright State with 23 points against Belmont. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
The Huskies broke on top early and never trailed in the game, and the score was only tied once late in the first half. Still, Belmont stayed close, mostly because the visiting Bruins shot the ball well, converting 14 of 25 chances from the field in the first period, including 5-for-11 from the 3-point line.
Washington, meanwhile, was ragtag at times, but still with decidedly too much firepower for Belmont, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference in Nashville, Tenn. The only question mark in the final few minutes was whether Washington could crack 100 points — alas, the Huskies came up just short.
Still, it was a much better UW showing than the night before, when Washington sputtered in a 74-69 season-debut win against Wright State.
“A lot of jitters happened in the first game,” Pondexter said. “Guys missed shots and were not quite playing like themselves. I think we got all that out of our system and moved forward.”
“Tonight we made some progress,” agreed UW head coach Lorenzo Romar.
The Huskies finished with a handsome 48-24 rebound margin, and that was a point of emphasis by Romar before the game.
“A lot of people attacked the boards,” he said. “We had a concerted effort to out-rebound them.”
Belmont coach Rick Byrd came away impressed with several Huskies. Thomas “may be as hard to guard, driving the basketball, as anybody I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Pondexter is awfully good all over the floor, and when (Bryan-Amaning) played like he did tonight … (Washington) is an awfully good basketball team.”
In Saturday’s first game, Wright State defeated Portland State, 75-70.
The three-day tournament concludes today with Belmont facing Wright State at 4:30 p.m., and Washington taking on Portland State at 7 p.m.
Former UW coach Marv Harshman was honored at halftime Saturday by the Athletes in Action. Harshman, who recently turned 92, is a frequent spectator at UW home games.
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