UW vs. Western Washington basketball game thread

Published 8:59 pm Thursday, November 6, 2008

Washington 105, Western Washington 85, final

Well this exhibition game went about as predicted for the Huskies, who jumped ahead of the Vikings early and cruised to an easy tuneup win.

Isaiah Thomas left the game at the 2:46 mark to a big ovation having scored 27 points in his Husky debut. Thomas struggled from outside, making only the last of four three-point attempts, but was eight for eight on two-point attempts, all of which came on drives to the hoop. Thomas also had three assists, though he should have probably had more had teammates finished on a few easy opportunities.

Jon Brockman finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds. Justin Dentmon, playing in his new role of shooting guard after mostly playing the point during his first three seasons here, made four of six three-point attempts and finished with 18 points.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a quiet first half off the bench with just two points, but asserted himself well in the second half with 10 points, including a violent dunk that got the loudest cheers of the night.

Huskies still cruising

Washington is up by 20, 67-47 right now with 11:47 left in the game, and it feels like that lead should probably be a little bigger. Isaiah Thomas is on the bench now, but leads all scorers with 19 points. Jon Brockman, also on the bench now, apparently isn’t happy without a double-double even in exhibition games, as he has 14 points and 15 rebounds.

It’s time to start writing for tomorrow’s paper, and since this is turning into a blowout—the Huskies have gone on a 6-0 run since I started typing this post—This may be it until postgame unless something crazy happens.

Washington 50, Western 27, halftime

Isaiah Thomas was the guy to watch coming into the game, and so far he has given fans plenty to cheer about, scoring 12 points and whipping around a few nice no-look passes.

Jon Brockman is being Jon Brockman, and has 11 points and seven rebounds. Justin Dentmon is showing that the summer he spent improving his shooting is paying off, hitting three of four three-point attempts on the way to 11 first-half points.

Lorenzo Romar said this team is better suited to play an up-tempo game than some of his recent teams have been, and the Huskies are showing it so far, scoring 50 points and attempting 42 shots in the first half.

Western guard Morris Anderson leads the Vikings with 12 points.

Washington leads 27-12 with 8:56 left in the half

No surprises here, as Washington is out to a big lead. Isaiah Thomas is currently the leading scorer with seven points, and all of his points are coming on drives to the basket. Thomas was a good shooter in high school, but so far he has missed both three-point attempts as well as three of four free throws. He has definitely been impressive taking the ball to the hole, however.

Wait, make that 10 points for Thomas, who just completed a three-point play to make it 30-12.

And since Brockman made two free throws to start the game, Washington is just two for six. Obviously one game, an exhibition at that, won’t determine the Huskies’ free-throw fates this season, but a good start could certainly ease the mental burden.

Huskies out to a 10-2 lead early

In what has to be a good omen for the Huskies, Jon Brockman sank a pair of free throws to get this game started. After a couple of early turnovers, Washington is rolling, which is to be expected against Division II Western Washington.

Isaiah Thomas has looked pretty good early, scoring three points on a free throw and a nice runner in the paint. He also forced a five-second violation while guarding Western’s Morris Anderson.

Justin Dentmon, who was said to be shooting better coming into this season, backed that up by nailing his first three-point attempt of the night.

PREGAME

We’re just a couple of minutes away from the start of Washington’s first exhibition game of the year.

A reminder that the game isn’t on TV or radio, but you can follow along here on this blog, or watch here.

Washington’s starters will be Senior forward Jon Brockman, junior forward Quincy Pondexter, freshman guard Isaiah Thomas, senior guard Justin Dentmon and redshirt freshman forward Darnell Gant.

Gant has apparently come on strong of late, playing himself into this role when most of us thought it would go to Matthew Bryan-Amaning.

All eyes will be on Thomas tonight, the biggest name in Washington’s incoming freshman class. Reviews from practice have been very good for Thomas, but this is the first time fans will get to see the dynamic 5-foot-8 guard.