SEATTLE – Isaiah Stewart won the race to become the first Washington player to record a double-double in the Huskies 87-63 win over Western Washington Thursday night, the final tune up before the 2019-20 men’s basketball season begins in November.
The highly touted freshman center finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds on 7 of 13 shooting from the floor. Jaden McDaniels, the other five-star freshman, scored 13 points and added eight rebounds of his own in the victory.
However, neither player led the team in scoring. Sophomore guard Jamal Bey led UW with 20 points which included three 3-pointers on the night. Bey played 28 minutes in the game, fourth most on the team behind McDaniels, Stewart and junior Naz Carter, who played 27 minutes.
“Learned that we’re really still young and inexperienced. I thought in the first half we started man I thought we were aggressive,” Huskies head coach Mike Hopkins said after the win.
“I was unhappy eight three pointers in the second half. That’s, to me, I was a little frustrated with the defensive part because that’s what we have to be able to be great at. We have the potential to be great at that. So we’ve got to clean that up.”
The Huskies fought through slow patches in both the first and second half but kept their shooting percentage and rebound totals relatively the same.
UW jumped out to an early 24-8 lead over WWU with 10:06 remaining in the first half before the offense hit a bump in rhythm. All 11 players eligible for the Huskies played at least two minutes in the first half.
Sophomore guard Quade Green did not appear in the game while his transfer waiver remains undetermined by the NCAA. Green was on the court postgame working on his 3-point shooting from all five primary spots on the floor.
Without Green, Hopkins used three different players at point guard in the exhibition.
Sophomores Elijah Hardy and Jamal Bey, along with freshman Marcus Tsohonis who was unable to play in the second half after the officials ruled his tooth injury was sever enough to hold him off the court.
Bey led all three players in minutes despite starting the game on the bench. He played just over 30 minutes while Hardy finished the game with 20 minutes. Tsohonis was able to play just 2:17 with his injury.
“He’s been working,” Hopkins said after the game on Bey. “You know what it is? When the ball is moving, the ball is being shard and you’re getting step-in shots. That’s when you shoot a high percentage.”
Hopkins added, “he was the difference. He came in and changed the game.”
Hopkins’ postgame highlights:
On what he learned from UW in Thursday night’s exhibition win… “Learned that we’re really still young and inexperienced. I thought in the first half we started man I thought we were aggressive. The big thing we wanted to do was defend without fouling. I thought for the most part we did a good job. Got into the zone, we did a good job. We try to hold them – one of our goals is five three’s or less. We held them to four. Couple – they were able to make a couple late in the clock. So we got to clean that up. That can’t happen anymore. I thought we did a good job in the first half. Second half, they did a good job moving the ball. We missed some shots. They made them. I was unhappy eight three pointers in the second half. That’s, to me, I was a little frustrated with the defensive part because that’s what we have to be able to be great at. We have the potential to be great at that. So we’ve got to clean that up. But I was happy about getting a lot of guys a lot of opportunities. Marcus I wish I would have got a lot more opportunities, but he bashed his teeth in so they said he couldn’t play in the second half.”
On what he didn’t like from UW… “I was disappointed in the second half. I think it’s human nature sometimes when you have a lot to, I wouldn’t say slack off. You got to give them a lot of credit because they moved the ball really good. They’re a very good offensive team. Just like in our exhibition against TCU you want to stop those guys, and they ended up having big games… Happy in the first half. Got to get a lot better. Second half wasn’t good.”
On Jaden McDaniels… “I thought he’s so unselfish. They only have him for three assists I think he had more. He made so many just good plays. Helping each other. Extra passes. Defensively he flies around. He has a great I.Q. He made the one block when they had a high-low. I thought that was a big energy changer. Those types of plays are just… they get the crowd going. You’re flying. They think they have a lay-up and you’ve got him flying out of nowhere. So I thought he looked great in his debut. Comfortable.”
On Isaiah Stewart… “He’s going to be as consistent as any player in America. I think you know you go out there and he’s getting banged, hit last week and he practices so hard. I got to do a good job managing him because he plays so hard. Got to keep him rested in and out of the game. But he does everything right. He’s a beast. He’s on the glass. He’s running the court. He anchors your defense. The greatest thing about these kids are they think they can be better. Today they can be frustrated. That’s great. That’s what championship programs do. That what championship people do and that’s all Isaiah Stewart is.”
