SEATTLE — It was a night that Jon Brockman made rebounding history at the University of Washington.
And it was ironic that it happened in one of his poorest rebounding games of the season.
Brockman, the beefy forward from Snohomish, snagged an offensive rebound late in the first half against Morgan State on Tuesday to give him 1,000 for his career. He becomes just the second UW player in history to reach that milestone, and almost certainly he will pass Doug Smart (1,051 rebounds, 1957-59) for the all-time lead sometime in the coming weeks.
That highlight aside, it was an otherwise disappointing rebounding night for Brockman, who finished with five (tying his season low) in Washington’s 81-67 victory over the visiting Bears at Bank of America Arena.
“I would liked to have had a little better rebounding game,” Brockman admitted afterward. “I didn’t attack the glass like I wanted to in the first half (when he had just one).”
But getting his 1,000th rebound “is an honor,” he added, “and hopefully I can get a few more.”
“When we recruited him, this is what we thought would happen,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “I always felt like when Jon Brockman decided to come to the University of Washington that one day he’d be the leading rebounder in the history of the school.
“He’s just a special, special player. And a special, special person.”
Also special on Tuesday night was freshman guard Isaiah Thomas, who had the best game of his young Husky career. The 5-foot-8 Thomas scorched Morgan State for 27 points, converting nine of 17 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, and eight of nine chances from the free throw line. He added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Thomas had 27 points in a season-opening exhibition game against Western Washington on Nov. 6, but his regular-season best was 19 points vs. Florida International on Nov. 20.
“He got in a groove a little bit tonight, and I think we saw what he’s capable of doing,” Romar said. “He’s our second-leading scorer right now (behind Brockman), and as we grow together and if he picks his spots he’ll score for us.”
Washington led most of the way against Morgan State, but the pesky Bears never stopped battling. They were within six points, 69-63, with less than five minutes to play, but from there the Huskies eased away. Washington’s 14-point margin at the end was its largest of the game.
“They were a good ballclub,” Brockman said. “Their record doesn’t show it, but they’re going to surprise some people this year.”
Romar cited two plusses for his team — improved free throw shooting and low turnovers. The Huskies were 31-for-41 from the line, a 75.6 percentage that was much better than their season mark of 61.2. Also, Washington had 12 turnovers, below its season average of 16.0.
“If we don’t do well in either one of those areas,” Romar pointed out, “that’s a lot closer game than it was. I’m not saying we would’ve lost the game, but it probably would’ve come down to the wire. Our guys did a good job in two areas that we hadn’t done a really good job in, and it made the difference in the game.”
Also, the Huskies had to overcome some adversity. Brockman played just 24 minutes because of foul trouble and backup forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning played only 19 minutes before fouling out.
“We had to play without some of our guys and we had to find a way to win,” Romar said. “Overall, I thought our guys came through and did a very good job.”
On the downside, Morgan State became the first team to outrebound Washington this season, 39-37, “and I know Coach (Romar) is going to be unhappy about that,” said UW guard Venoy Overton.
This was the Huskies’ final non-conference game of the season — “Unless we play another game later (in a postseason tournament),” Romar said with a thin smile — and the win improved their record to 9-3 heading into Saturday afternoon’s Pacific-10 Conference opener against Washington State in Pullman.
“Mentally, we’re definitely ready,” Brockman said. “As far as our play, we’re just getting better every day. … We’re all pretty excited about starting Pac-10.”
Washington guard Elston Turner was injured seven minutes into Tuesday’s game when Morgan State’s Rico Myles fell against the back of Turner’s leg in a rebound scramble. Turner, who suffered a sprained left ankle, had X-rays (which were negative) and returned to the Washington bench in the second half using crutches and with a protective boot on his left foot.
His status for Saturday’s game will be known later in the week, Romar said.
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