SEATTLE – If this is Spencer Hawes just getting healthy, Husky basketball fans may be in for a treat.
In the third game of his career and still getting his legs under him after missing time with minor knee surgery, Hawes had his best game as a Husky and Washington came from behind to squeeze out a 70-61 win over Northern Iowa in the championship game of the Basketball Travelers Classic Tuesday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
The Huskies went 3-0 in the season-opening tournament and have now won three preseason tournaments in the past three years, and 19-straight non-conference road games. But unlike the first two games of the tournament which Washington won fairly easily, the Panthers, who have made the past three NCAA Tournaments and also won their first two games, made the hosts work.
“That is a good team, a team that is well coached, that really executes offensively and defensively,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “They have three starters from an NCAA Tournament team. … It was a great opportunity for us to step up and see what we were made of. I felt like the water was cold and they pushed us in and we had to learn to swim right there on the spot.”
For a while, the Huskies seemed to be drowning, trailing by as many as eight in the first half as an offense that had shot 54 percent and averaged 100.5 points in the first two games suddenly went cold. Washington missed 15 of its first 21 shots but trailed just 31-28 at the half. Hawes, who struggled (four points in 16 minutes) against Nicholls State on Monday, got off to a slow start, going 2-for-6 and turning the ball over four times in the first half.
“I didn’t feel like I played very well at all (Monday) so I was going to try to come out and redeem myself,” said Hawes, Washington’s prize 7-foot freshman from Seattle. “The best way to do that is come out and have a good start. So I was pushing myself early. Coach reiterated to me to just simplify. (He said) you’re overcomplicating things. Just go to your bread and butter.”
Hawes’ bread and butter just happens to be a little of everything.
With Northern Iowa ahead 52-48 with 6:07 left, Hawes scored with a hook shot and then two free throws to spark an 8-0 run that was capped by a Ryan Appleby 3-pointer from the top of the key with two seconds remaining on the shot clock to give the UW a 56-52 lead.
Northern Iowa stayed in it, trailing 58-56 when Hawes made two more free throws, then blocked Panther forward Eric Coleman’s shot, leading to a Justin Dentmon fastbreak layup for a 62-56 lead. Dentmon, who led Washington with 17 points, iced the game with four free throws in the final 33 seconds and earned tournament MVP honors.
But it was Hawes who was the story Tuesday. The highest-rated recruit in Washington history scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and finished the tournament averaging 10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
“I struggled a little bit early,” Hawes said. “Once I found my rhythm I settled down. I was a little jumpy in the beginning. Once I settled down, things started falling into place.”
“I’ve been saying all along, it’s not automatic all of a sudden that we’re just in the Final Four because Spencer Hawes is here,” Romar said. “It takes time. Not only is Spencer a freshman, but he’s practiced three days (because of his knee). …This was his first real challenge. All I can say is he adjusted to it. He rose to the challenge when he needed to.”
Though Northern Iowa had a good, veteran post game that clearly tried to take Hawes and Jon Brockman out of the game early, Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said Hawes just had too many weapons.
“If it wasn’t the hook shot, it was the turnaround,” Jacobson said. “And if it wasn’t the left hand, it was the right hand.”
The Huskies won despite shooting 42.9 percent and turning the ball over 17 times. The Huskies were 18-for-21 from the foul line and outrebounded Northern Iowa 35-28. Appleby finished with 14 points, making three 3-pointers, and Brockman joined Dentmon on the all-tournament team.
“We’ve got a chance to be successful if we do things right and improve throughout the next couple months because we’re not there yet,” Romar said. “But we’ve got a chance to be there. Some teams you have, you don’t have a chance to be there. We have a chance to get there.”
Note: Former Husky and current Philadelphia 76er Bobby Jones attended the game, sitting behind the Washington bench. Philadelphia plays the Sonics in Seattle today
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