SEATTLE — If nothing else, the Washington Huskies men’s basketball team wants to play fast this season. They want to take the ball out of the net and race to the other end of the floor. They want to contest passing lanes defensively and hope to force turnovers that lead to easy baskets.
Along the way, they will make mistakes. Maybe a lot of mistakes. This is, after all, the youngest roster coach Lorenzo Romar has constructed, and a team that includes seven true freshmen will need time to learn how to play together, and how to play the way Romar wants.
Thursday’s exhibition game against Seattle Pacific was the first public step in that process. And it supported a pair of obvious notions: The young Huskies are athletic, talented, and could be a fun team to watch. But they’re also prone to sloppiness and defensive breakdowns, ailments that can only be cured by experience.
Washington eventually pulled away from its Division II opponent on Thursday night, winning 98-80 before a crowd of 4,978 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The Huskies shot 58.1 percent from the field, and six players scored in double-figures. Fifth-year senior Andrew Andrews had 21 points. Freshman forward Noah Dickerson added 17, freshman forward Marquese Chriss had 11, freshmen guards David Crisp and Dominic Green each scored 10, and freshman guard Dejounte Murray scored 16 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.
But what Romar most wanted to see, he said, was effort. And while he jokingly lamented that the Huskies “didn’t get 10 new guys to play mistake-free basketball,” he said he “loved their effort.”
“I loved our guys’ effort, I loved our guys’ unselfishness,” Romar said. “We were able to sustain our defensive effort for longer periods than I thought we would be tonight. Seattle Pacific is such a good team to play, because they run their offensive very efficiently. … We got a lot of reps guarding against a very efficient offense, and I thought our guys did a pretty good job overall.”
SPU is a regular participant in the Division II postseason, and the Falcons posed a few challenges. Brendan Carroll, a senior guard from Australia, led SPU with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting. The Falcons picked up a few easy baskets in the first half on backdoor cuts, taking advantage of UW’s aggressive steal attempts. And they held a rebounding edge for most of the game — including 20-14 in the first half — despite the final tally finishing even at 31-31.
“We should be a much better rebounding team than we were tonight on the offensive glass,” Romar said.
Washington’s skill eventually won out. After SPU trimmed the lead to 60-55 with a little more than 13 minutes to play, the Huskies ripped off a 15-5 run, capped by Murray’s breakaway one-handed jam after a steal.
There were a few plays like that. Washington forced 22 turnovers and turned them into 32 points, with players like Chriss and Dickerson picking off passes near midcourt and dribbling the other way with the ball.
“I think as a team we performed pretty well,” Andrews said. “Everybody came in as a team and contributed. … Everybody came in defensively and offensively with some energy and gave us life. So I think we did a pretty good job.”
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